Push and Pull
by furryewokazon
Summary: Santana unexpectedly 'imprinted' on Brittany at a young age. A coming of age story which deals with the implications of their bond and how it affects their changing relationship over the course of one whirlwind weekend.
1. Chapter 1

_Santana loved running. She would never admit it to anyone but sometimes she would pretend that she was Pocahontas from that Disney movie and she would run everywhere she could just to feel the wind in her hair. She did kind of look like her- well a lot more than all those other girly girls in the cartoons she pretended not to like because her older brother would make fun of her for it. Her favourite place to run was the park because it was such a wide open space and she could run around for what felt like hours on end, feeling absolutely free like nothing in the world could ever catch up to her. _

_But then again the park always proved more distracting than other places because she could constantly hear the sounds of all the other children laughing together on the big climbing frame in the centre of the playground. _

_The thing was that Santana didn't have any friends- not ones who weren't family members anyway; the real kind who she'd had a chance to choose for herself. It wasn't that she was lonely or anything, but her efforts of finding her very own Meeko was just not turning out for her- she didn't even know what kind of animal he was and the closest she'd come to finding one was stumbling across a few neighbourhood cats which kind of resembled him. But cats and Santana did not get along at all; no matter how hard she tried to entice a cat to let her pat them, all the hair on the back of their neck would always rise and then it would start hissing at her until Santana was forced to back away. It was a little weird since dogs seemed to love Santana and often started following her wherever she went. She often wondered why dogs liked her so much when cats didn't but her parents would always brush her concerns aside with a statement like , 'It's in your blood dear, you can't help it,' and she'd be forced to accept it. She figured she could always find a willing dog to be her friend- they liked to run a lot like her too. But she really wanted to be more like Pocahontas, whose best friend was Meeko- and Meeko definitely wasn't a dog…_

_So really, finding her John Smith was her only other option. _

_Santana stopped running abruptly and turned her attention on the playground nearby. She needed to make a friend- one who was preferably a boy and with blonde hair, just like John Smith. _

_She scanned the playing children quickly, a frown beginning to take over her face as she realised there was absolutely no blondes to be seen anywhere. She was about to completely give up on finding John Smith when a flash of bright blonde hair darted across her vision as a small girl slid out from the bottom of the slippery dip to land gracefully on her feet and immediately took off in the direction of the monkey bars. _

_"Hey wait!" Santana called as she ran after the bouncing blonde head of curls. _

_The girl was fast and by the time Santana caught up to her she was already hanging from the monkey bars, expertly swinging from one bar to the next. _

_Santana froze as she took in the sight of the girl swinging her way across the play equipment up above her. She realised her heart was beating super fast- way faster than it should have been after such a short sprint and it wasn't until she felt the stinging in her kneecaps that she noticed she'd fallen to her knees in the bark meant to soften the ground below the play structure. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the blonde however and her vision actually began to blur around the edges so that only the blonde remained vividly in focus. _

_"What…?" Santana tried to voice the indescribable feeling taking over her body. _

_It was like she couldn't breathe properly - or rather like she hadn't been breathing properly all her life until just this very moment and her lungs were extremely grateful that she was finally getting it right. _

_She felt like how she feels when she's running around wildly without a care in the world, except this time instead of running for the sake of running, for the first time ever she felt like she knew where she was running to; like her running had a purpose. _

_Her staring must have caught the blonde's attention because the girl stopped swinging and hung perfectly still halfway across the monkey bars to look down at Santana with interest. _

_The moment blue eyes locked onto hers, Santana gasped as everything she was experiencing increased by the tenfold. Her small body could barely contain it all. She felt like fainting but couldn't allow for that to happen because it would mean taking her eyes off the blonde. _

_Her face was burning like she'd spent far too long out in the sun and for a moment or two Santana was certain this girl was the true sun and that the big ball in the sky was only posing; she was so bright it hurt to look at her but she couldn't bear to tear her eyes away. _

_But then a concerned look took over the blonde's face and Santana could only watch in slow motion as the blonde glanced up at her hands in time to see one hand slip from its hold on the bar overhead. The blonde bit her lip worriedly as her body swung precariously back and forth from the loss of balance and she stared up at her other hand which was only just still managing to hold on._

_Both girls watched as the blonde's grip slowly failed and she began to slip… _

_And Santana could only watch in horror as she fell. _

_It wasn't like it was that far down really, but the girl was only halfway across the monkey bars so it wasn't like she was simply jumping down onto one of the platforms on either end- there was a considerable drop involved in the middle that would surely look scary when you're way up there and holding on with all your might because you don't really want to fall._

_Santana really didn't want the girl to hurt herself and before she even realised she'd moved Santana was standing directly below the falling blonde ready to catch her. She was sure she'd never moved so fast before even though she'd only moved a couple of steps. _

_The blonde landed directly on top of Santana, who being smaller in stature fell backwards breaking the blonde's fall rather than successfully catching her as she planned. _

_Her tailbone hurt a lot where she'd jarred it as she fell but the sensation was dull compared to the concern she felt for the girl on top of her. _

_The blonde seemed to share her concern as soon as she recovered from the surprise of landing on someone and she quickly rolled off Santana to hover over her where she lay in the dirt and bark. _

_"Are you okay?" The blonde asked with wide eyes. _

_Santana nodded feeling mute all of a sudden as her eyes raked over the blonde's face up close like she was trying to memorise it. _

_She was bombarded with the feeling that she knew this girl even though she'd never met her before in her life. _

_"Why'd you run under me?" The blonde asked in confusion since it seemed like an odd thing for someone- especially a stranger- to do._

_"I didn't want you to get hurt," Santana admitted shyly. _

_"You're silly," The blonde announced as her nose scrunched up in amusement. "But I like you. Thanks for saving me."_

_The blonde scrambled to her feet and then pulled Santana up as well. _

_Santana wanted to tell the blonde that she liked her too but the words got caught in her throat. She felt normal again; her body wasn't freaking out any more since she'd been knocked over but her undivided attention remained focused on the blonde. She noticed the blonde was still holding her hand from when she'd helped her stand up and she grinned happily because surely this meant they were now friends._

_"I'm Santana," Santana introduced herself enthusiastically as she shook the hand she already held just the way she'd seen her parents do._

_This seemed to make the blonde giggle and Santana grinned even wider at the sound. Seeing the blonde happy made her feel even happier._

_"I'm Brittany," The blonde replied returning the handshake. _

_Santana was about to ask Brittany if she wanted to play Pocahontas and John Smith with her when she heard her mother calling out to her._

_"Santana! It's time to go now!" Santana's mother called as she walked closer, hand in hand with Santana's father. _

_Santana frowned as she looked from her approaching parents back to Brittany. _

_"I have to go," Santana announced solemnly._

_She dropped Brittany's hand and frowned even deeper when an overwhelming sadness filled her body._

_"Bye," Brittany squeaked looking disappointed. _

_Santana felt like crying at the look on Brittany's face and she quickly turned her back on the girl not wanting to look silly. She took a few quick steps towards her parents away from Brittany and cried out in pain as the hurt in her bottom returned as well as a deep clenching in her stomach. Santana didn't know what was happening but she felt like she was being pulled apart and immediately stopped moving to clutch at her tummy. In fact the more she thought about it she hurt all over but it wasn't like a painful hurt… it was more of a hollow, aching kind of hurt. She felt empty like all her insides were missing even though that was impossible because she could feel her heart racing again._

_Santana closed her eyes trying to will the pain away and when it was suddenly gone just as soon as it appeared she opened them again to see Brittany standing in front of her with a panicked look on her face. Her closeness was warm and reassuring so Santana stepped even closer to her, clinging to the happiness that flooded her body. _

_"Santana, are you okay?" Brittany asked, seeming far more serious this time than when she asked the same question of her only minutes earlier. _

_But Santana felt fine now so she answered the same way she did then, with a nod._

_Her mother called out to her again, insistently grabbing Santana's attention once more so she shrugged apologetically and took a hesitant step around Brittany only to squeak when her body began to tremble signalling that the pain would return if she moved any further. She immediately jumped back in Brittany's direction and unabashedly threw her arms around Brittany's neck understanding immediately that Brittany had the power to make her feel better. _

_Brittany__ wanted to laugh at Santana's antics but she could tell the smaller girl was scared so she instinctively curled her arms around her and held on tight. _

_By now Santana's parents were only a few steps away looking impatient._

_"Come on now Santana, say good bye to your little friend. It's time to go home now," Santana's mother instructed. _

_Santana shook her head not wanting to move a muscle. She felt so safe in Brittany's arms. _

_"Now, now Santana…" Santana's father chastised in his stern, authority-filled voice, "You can play together another day."_

_Santana began to cry; she didn't want her parents to be cranky at her but she didn't want to risk moving either. She was so torn about what to do. _

_"I can't," Santana sobbed, taking security in the way Brittany gently rubbed her back. "It hurts."_

_Santana's parents looked at the two girls clinging desperately to one another, noting of course that they'd never seen the little blonde girl before, making her a practical stranger to their daughter. For the independent Santana they knew so well to strike up such an intense bond with a complete stranger so quickly, it could only really mean one thing, as unlikely and unexpected as that seemed…_

_Santana's parents shared a worried frown._

...

* * *

><p><strong>A.N:<strong> Something a little different! So i'm not really a fan of the Twilight books but I do watch the movies and the whole idea of "imprinting" intrigued me quite a bit. I don't think you need to be a fan of Twilight to understand what I'm getting at with this story and I do intend to delve deeper into more of an explanation of how it all works in later chapters as I've taken a few liberties with the concept of "imprinting" as it is used in Stephenie Meyer's books to better suit my story. So i'm not in any way trying to offend Twilight fans, just borrowing a cool idea and tweaking it to my needs a bit. Santana won't be appearing as a physical werewolf in this story so it's not going to be too out there in a fantasy sort of way- her ability to imprint has merely been passed on through her genes from her ancestors who perhaps were able to shape shift as the werewolves do in Twilight.


	2. Chapter 2

Santana was leaning against the bleachers wearing her track uniform, waiting on the group of cheerleaders returning from the oval now that Cheerios training was finally over for the day.

Brittany spied her best friend in the entire world and smiled widely at her, noting of course the cold sports drink she had in hand which was undoubtedly meant for her; Santana was too good to her.

"Aww, it's so cute how your sister looks out for you, Britt," a girl beside her remarked, obviously seeing what Brittany had seen.

"Yeah I wish my sister treated me like that, mine's a little bitch," another remarked.

Brittany simply shrugged; she knew she had it good with Santana, though she didn't know what she'd ever done to deserve her.

"Just lucky I guess," Brittany offered lamely;

She'd given up a long time ago trying to explain that she and Santana were not in fact sisters- not that people actually thought they were really related or anything- they couldn't look less alike. But everyone was used to how close they were and since they'd grown up around these two girls acting as close as twins, people tended to see what they wanted to see.

"She's even better than a boyfriend!" Someone pointed out sending the group of girls into a fit of giggles. The sad truth was that what she'd said was right and everyone there knew it.

Brittany blushed; now her teammates were just being silly.

The group of girls slinked past Santana, sharing the odd 'hello' which Santana returned politely. She didn't much care for these girls but they were nice to her because she came as a package deal with Brittany… and well everyone loved Brittany.

Santana waited for all of the girls to walk by until it was just her and Brittany left standing on the empty oval, before proudly brandishing the sports drink to the blonde.

"San, you didn't have to…" Brittany rolled her eyes playfully but proceeded to accept the drink and start guzzling it down greedily.

"Yeah, really looks like it too," Santana remarked with a sly smirk.

She knew her girl was exhausted, she could tell just by looking at her. Cheerios training had gone way over time and Santana was keen to get Brittany home so she could rest.

"Come on then, piggyback time," Santana instructed as she moved into position for Brittany to climb on her back.

"San!" Brittany squealed in indignation as she tried to push Santana aside. "We're too big for piggybacks now, I'll squish you!"

"You don't think I can?" Santana challenged playfully with an arched brow.

Sure Brittany was taller, but Santana was deceivingly strong for her size.

"I know you can," Brittany confirmed softly, not having the energy left even to banter with her.

Seeing defeat in the slump of Brittany's shoulders, Santana swooped in and hoisted Brittany over her shoulder, holding on tight to the blonde's long legs as she started walking in the direction of the car park with the rest of Brittany dangling helplessly down her back.

"Santana!" Brittany squealed again as she squirmed trying to get down. "Everyone can see my spanks!"

"Well maybe you should wear a longer skirt next time," Santana pointed out.

Brittany 'hmphed' loudly recognising an overprotective Santana comment when she heard it and accepted her fate, slumping against Santana as though trying to rebelliously make herself heavier.

"Hey you brought this on yourself, I offered to give you a relaxing piggyback ride but no, you forced me to carry you like the damsel in distress that you are," Santana continued egging her on.

"My hero," Brittany drawled sarcastically.

Santana chuckled and carried the tall blonde the rest of the way to her car in silence before placing the girl back on her feet by the passenger door. Brittany was flushed from all the blood rushing to her head and her pony was in even more of a state than when she finished Cheerios practice.

Brittany watched in silence as Santana opened her door for her and tossed both of their bags (which she'd also been carrying along with herself, Brittany realised) into the back seat before walking around to climb into the driver's seat. She jumped in the car and closed the door, buckling her seat belt before turning to face Santana. She was trying to remain cross with Santana for manhandling so, but everything was quickly forgiven at the adoring smile Santana was sending her way making Brittany flush. Whenever Santana doted on her it really did make her feel like the she was the most important person in the world. Of course, if you were to ask Santana that she would adamantly agree.

"Your hair's a mess," Santana pointed out with a cute scrunch of her nose as she lapped up Brittany's appearance.

"I need a shower," Brittany agreed, "Your place or mine?"

"Yours," Santana decided for the both of them. "No one's home at mine. And there's always something happening at yours."

Brittany smiled; as much as Santana kept to herself at school, Brittany knew the real Santana was a pack animal who thrived on being around her kin… and of course Brittany's family was just as much her family now.

But then again Brittany knew Santana's greatest passion was spending her time with Brittany so sometimes Brittany really didn't understand why Santana didn't take advantage of that big empty house when she could, so that the two of them could spend some quality time alone.

Brittany giggled to herself at the thought of them needing 'quality time alone' because quite honestly they were almost always together, which made the whole idea of them needing even more time a little absurd.

"What are you giggling at?" Santana asked curiously as she turned the key in the ignition.

"Nothing," Brittany deflected contentedly and threaded her fingers through Santana's on the gearstick watching as Santana's face lit up at the gesture. Brittany loved that she could so easily affect Santana mood with the slightest touch.

"Well you should giggle at 'nothing' more often then," Santana encouraged as she backed out of the parking lot and set off in the direction of the Pierce residence- one of the two places that she considered her 'home'.

They drove in silence for the most part but Brittany knew there was a subject she had to broach before they settled too comfortably into their routine of hanging out at home together.

"You know how there's a party on tonight…" Brittany stated carefully.

Santana took a deep steadying breath before glancing at Brittany.

"Yeah at Puck's," Santana replied confirming she'd heard about it. "He's interested in you."

Brittany rolled her eyes ignoring that detail which of course Santana would make a point of reminding her.

"I thought we could go…" Brittany suggested hopefully. "It'll be fun."

"You can go," Santana shrugged. "You don't need my permission."

"San," Brittany whined, "I thought we could go together."

Brittany hated leaving Santana behind at home when she knew she was going to have a great time out dancing the night away.

Santana sighed as she pulled into the Pierce's driveway and cut the engine.

"Brittany, you know I don't feel comfortable in those situations…" Santana trailed off awkwardly. "I find it harder to… control myself."

"Yeah I know, I'm the one who usually has to watch you possessively shove every boy aside that so much as looks at me," Brittany pointed out.

"I've been working on that," Santana mumbled in embarrassment.

"Oh, so you won't be screaming 'She's mine! Back off!' again at the top of your lungs anytime soon hmm? Darn," Brittany retorted sardonically.

Santana groaned and buried her face in her hands.

"I know, I know, I'm sorry," Santana mumbled.

"Do you know how long it took me to convince the other cheerleaders that you weren't crazy after that? I think Quinn's still doubtful…" Brittany reflected.

Santana lifted her head to look at Brittany imploringly.

"I have to get used to the fact that I'm not going to have you all to myself forever. It's just a lot easier if I don't have to _watch_, you know?"

"It doesn't have to be that sort of party," Brittany suggested hesitantly; this was always an awkward subject between them, especially of late. "We can just go together and dance for a bit..."

"Brittany, you know as well as I do that there's going to be a lot more going on at that party than just dancing. There will be alcohol… and there will be horny teenage boys…"

"Well you always said it's important for me to have a normal teenage experience despite your imprinting on me…" Brittany argued cautiously.

"All the more reason why I shouldn't be going to any more parties with you," Santana said firmly. "I'll only get in your way."

"San, you know it's not like that," Brittany hushed her, squeezing the hand still under hers.

Santana managed a tight smile before leaning across Brittany and popping her door open.

"You're not coming in?" Brittany frowned in confusion. "San don't be sill-…"

Santana shook her head cutting Brittany off and she forced a brave smile to her face.

"Go get ready for your party," Santana encouraged.

When Brittany refused to move and instead set a hard challenging stare Santana's way, Santana laughed and placed a hand behind Brittany's neck pulling her head down so she could press a soft kiss to her forehead.

When Brittany pulled away and Santana noticed her lower lip was trembling, Santana had to practically push the blonde out of her car before she started getting upset too.

"I'll pick you up after," Santana guaranteed. "Have fun, but promise me that you'll be careful."

Brittany bit at her still trembling lip and nodded.

Santana waited until Brittany was safely inside her house before letting the frown settle back on her face as she drove off towards her empty house, knowing it would never really feel like her home unless Brittany was there with her.

...


	3. Chapter 3

Santana had learned to live with her separation anxiety many years ago but that didn't mean that she could easily nap away the evening without Brittany tucked under her arm. Feeling completely restless without Brittany's company on a Friday night, Santana had opted for driving around their neighbourhood, trying to pass the time until it was a reasonable hour for her to be picking up Brittany from her party.

They lived in a small town so Santana felt like she could practically hear the party echoing loudly no matter how far away she was from Puck's street… the vibrations taunting her as she tried to wait it out.

Eventually her impatience won out and she found herself parking out the front of Puck's house. Puck was one of the most popular guys at school so Santana wasn't surprised to see his house all lit up and teeming with rowdy teenagers. Santana spared a thought for his unfortunate neighbours in their dark, quiet houses on either side. It really was a surprise that the police hadn't been called yet considering that there was without a doubt a whole lot of underage drinking going on inside.

Santana bit her lip and stared at the time on her phone, debating what she should do. As much as Brittany had argued that she come to the party with her, Santana was certain that her walking in now would only look bad to the blonde who would most likely take her appearance as an indication that Santana didn't trust her.

Santana bit the bullet and typed out a quick text;

**'I'm out the front when you're ready. No hurry x'**

She sent the message to Brittany as she climbed out of her car and moved to perch on the hood casually. She didn't expect Brittany to be in a position to drop everything and leave the party straight away, which is why her eyebrows rose the moment a familiar figure stumbled out the front door mere minutes after her message had been sent.

"San?" Brittany called loudly as she stood on the bright doorstep squinting out into the surrounding darkness.

Santana realised that in her haste to stake out Puck's party, she'd parked in the shadows away from an overhead streetlight making her current position practically invisible to someone standing at Brittany's vantage point.

Santana slid off the hood and walked out under the closest street lamp, where she knew Brittany would be able to see her better.

Brittany squealed in recognition and sent Santana an enthusiastic wave before stumbling forward clumsily.

Santana frowned because _that _was definitely not like the coordinated dancer she knew so well and she hastened forward, catching Brittany in her arms just as the blonde tripped and nearly fell.

Brittany threw her arms around Santana as she collapsed heavily against her, laughing uncontrollably into Santana's neck.

Brittany's laughter was kind of infectious and Santana found herself smiling widely at the undeniably tipsy girl in her arms.

"Oh San, I missed you!" Brittany gushed far more loudly than was entirely necessary for two people standing so close. "You're my favourite person in the whole world!"

Santana chuckled warmly, sharing Brittany's sentiment completely but having enough sense to not shout it out to the unforgiving night.

"I knew you would come!" Brittany raved on as she nuzzled affectionately into Santana's neck.

Santana started giggling at Brittany's tickling affection and had to pull away, though she made sure to keep Brittany standing upright.

"Of course I was coming, I told you I would," Santana reminded her trying to act offended at the suggestion of doubt.

Brittany giggled again and laid her head on Santana's shoulder.

"You take such good care of me San," Brittany sighed happily.

Santana blushed at Brittany's tone and hurried to change the subject before their exchange could get too deep and emotional while they were standing on the sidewalk out the front of Puckerman's house.

"So you know now, I'm here when you're ready to go…" Santana stated getting back to business.

Brittany raised her head wearing a confused frown.

"But I'm ready to go now…"

"You don't have to leave because I'm here," Santana wanted to make sure Brittany didn't feel pressured to leave because she had arrived a little early.

"But I'm **so **tired," Brittany moaned theatrically. "I danced all night!"

"What's new there?" Santana asked cheekily. Brittany really did love to dance; she loved to dance like Santana loved to run… like it was in her blood.

"No but I mean it this time," Brittany relayed enthusiastically. "I danced and danced and danced!"

"Wow, you must be tired," Santana played along, finding tipsy Brittany all kinds of endearing. "You must have needed lots to drink to keep up all that dancing."

Brittany looked at Santana gravely, noting her teasing tone and then her lips twitched and before she could stop it her mouth had curled into a big cheesy grin.

"I drank so much beer," Brittany admitted in a loud whisper as though she was imparting a huge secret on Santana. "But I didn't spew."

"That's good," Santana nodded, agreeing with Brittany that it was something to be proud about. She had taken care of a violently ill Brittany a couple of times before as a result of too much partying- without question of course- but even she had to admit that this cuddly and somewhat needy Brittany was much easier to handle. "Well do you think those tired legs of yours can make it to the car?"

"I might need a piggyback," Brittany suggested with mischief twinkling in her eyes.

"I knew you still liked them!" Santana accused victoriously.

Brittany merely shrugged as she manoeuvred until she could climb onto Santana's back, circling her arms around the smaller girl's shoulders as Santana caught her legs and held her up. Brittany grinned and cuddled into Santana's neck some more.

"Of course I do," Brittany agreed.

It wasn't very far to Santana's car so it really wasn't much of a piggyback at all but Brittany seemed to enjoy it all the same, giggling away into Santana's neck until Santana awkwardly dumped her in the passenger side of the car where she slumped lazily.

Brittany was still smiling to herself when Santana climbed in behind the wheel and turned to pull Brittany's seatbelt on before buckling herself in.

"We should go to your house tonight," Brittany suggested as Santana started the engine.

Santana frowned at that idea; there was no way she was going back there tonight…

"But you said everyone was out, we'd have the whole place to ourselves…" Brittany continued as she pointedly reached for Santana's hand busy on the gearstick, only to change her mind and drop her hand to Santana's thigh. A still target was easier than a moving one when the world was spinning slightly.

Santana curled an eyebrow curiously and turned to look at Brittany.

"So…?" Santana asked completely clueless, not at all seeing why an empty house would be so appealing.

Brittany shrugged with a matching pout.

"We always have to whisper when we stay up talking at my house," Brittany reminded her. "Maybe I just want to be loud."

Santana smiled as she registered just how animated Brittany was in her current state- even more than usual. She wanted to give Brittany everything she wanted of course… but she couldn't bring herself to take Brittany to her house when she knew they wouldn't really be alone after all. And what was waiting to share with them was not at all appealing.

"Tommy's there with his new girlfriend," Santana said in explanation as she pulled a grossed-out face.

Brittany started giggling all over again.

"San, you do know she's not just some _'new girlfriend'_, Tommy imprinted on her last week," Brittany reminded her seriously.

"Which is exactly why I don't want us to be stuck there listening to _that _all night long," Santana pointed out.

"I think it's cute," Brittany gushed romantically.

"Ew Britt, gross," Santana responded in disgust and focused on the dark road ahead.

Silence settled over them as Brittany watched Santana drive her home. She started rubbing Santana's thigh sympathetically knowing that the talk of her brother had riled her up. As much as the siblings competed and argued all the time, Brittany knew that Santana still cared for her big brother… but now that he had imprinted, she was suddenly a lot less significant to him. It had to hurt.

"You still have me," Brittany murmured gently.

Santana glanced at Brittany trying to figure out what she was talking about and she immediately softened at Brittany's steadfast adoring gaze.

"And you're way better than a smelly boy any day," Santana replied as she leaned over and kissed Brittany's temple devotedly. She appreciated Brittany's concern about her changing dynamic with her brother but the blonde seemed to forget that **_she _**was always her main concern now and everyone- even her family, came second to that. If her relationship with Tommy felt a little strained now that he had imprinted, it was undoubtedly what Tommy had been feeling all this time she'd had Brittany.

Santana watched as the smile fell from Brittany's face guiltily and she frowned at the blonde not understanding what she'd said wrong.

"I have to tell you something San," Brittany murmured. "But you have to promise not to get mad."

Santana didn't like the sound of that and she waited until she pulled into the Pierce's driveway and cut the engine before nodding at the blonde.

"Puck kissed me," Brittany told her hesitantly, "Tonight, at the party."

Santana nodded, finally recognising the foreign scent lingering on Brittany as Puck.

"I overheard him at school today saying he wanted to…" Santana explained guardedly. She was somewhat prepared that this may happen even though she didn't approve of Puck in the slightest. Not for her Brittany.

"It was nice," Brittany admitted honestly. "_Kissing _I mean."

Santana shrugged, not having any basis to relate to on the subject. She'd kissed Brittany on the cheek and forehead hundreds of times but they were always loving, reassuring displays of affection for her bond mate. Santana knew the kind of kissing Brittany was referring to was not that type of kissing…

"You want me to carry you inside?" Santana asked, offering another piggyback. Though their serious talk had seemed to sober Brittany up somewhat, Santana wasn't entirely sure Brittany would be able to navigate her way through her house and up the stairs to her bedroom without waking up the rest of the sleeping household.

"You're going to stay right? You're not mad about- about what happened?" Brittany pressed with concern.

Santana silently got out of the car and walked around to help Brittany out. Brittany merely stared at her with wide solemn eyes as though afraid that Santana was going to disappear on her at any second.

Santana saw the expression on Brittany's face and gently shook her head.

"Brittany, we haven't slept apart since we were four, I'm not going to start tonight," Santana joked gently, though she didn't point out that with Brittany starting to kiss boys it would only be a matter of time until they couldn't any more.

Brittany hugged her unexpectedly and fiercely as though sensing her thoughts. Santana gave back as good as she could get, squeezing the blonde tightly in her arms.

...


	4. Chapter 4

Brittany was yawning into her neck by the time Santana made it to the top of the stairs. A few floorboards had creaked here and there under their added weight but other than that they'd managed to make their way through the Pierce household and up to Brittany's room rather soundlessly in the dark. Of course Santana knew this place as well as her own after so many years of living here so it was hardly that much of a challenge anymore.

"What happened to your plan of staying up all night and talking, _Sleepy_?" Santana teased as she eased Brittany down on her bed.

Brittany's smile turned into another yawn and that was more of an answer than was needed as she patted the space next to her, inviting Santana to hurry up and lie down with her so they could cuddle some more.

Santana laughed quietly and shook her head as she kicked off her shoes and then reached for the fly to her jeans, unzipping it and pushing the tight material down her legs so she could kick them away to worry about later. She was unfazed by the fact that Brittany was laying on the bed watching her undress with unblinking eyes; they'd grown up together so it wasn't like they weren't familiar with each other's bodies by now.

Santana kept a watchful eye on Brittany as she shrugged off her shirt and unsnapped her bra letting it fall to the floor before moving to the nearby dresser and pulling out two baggy shirts for them to sleep in. She pulled one over her head and carried the other back over to drop on the bed.

Santana moved to ease Brittany back up again which only resulted in a disapproving groan from the blonde.

"Come on, you know the drill," Santana informed her patiently, standing with hands on hips at the end of the bed. She was trying to look imposing and it was quite the sight considering she was only wearing a baggy shirt and her underwear. "We've got to get you out of that Cheerios outfit and ready for bed."

"I don't wanna," Brittany whined difficultly as she shook her head where she lay in the middle of the bed.

"Brittany, you know that if you don't hurry up and move I will tickle you," Santana threatened.

"You wouldn't dare," Brittany challenged playfully.

Santana readily took that challenge and crawled onto the bed on top of Brittany to begin tickling her mercilessly. Brittany squealed in surprise and tried to roll away but Santana was seated atop her stomach holding her down.

"S-san! Everyone's asleep remember!" Brittany warned between giggles.

"Then you should really be more quiet," Santana pointed out in amusement. To be honest, it wouldn't be the first time Mr and Mrs Pierce awoke to Brittany's giggles in the middle of the night because of her.

"N-no fair! Alright, alright I'll get changed!" Brittany conceded gasping for air between laughter. Santana was really good at tickling.

Santana's busy fingers stopped moving immediately and she wriggled further down Brittany's body to sit astride her thighs, watching as the blonde caught her breath.

Brittany was panting as she silently stared up at Santana with wide, trusting eyes.

Santana smiled gently as she leaned forward and eased her hands under Brittany's shoulders, helping her to sit up.

Brittany silently complied as Santana dutifully eased the hair elastic from her hair to release the tight ponytail and then ran her fingers through the long blonde tresses a few times to untangle any snags.

Santana was completely dedicated to her task, moving to gently unzip Brittany's Cheerios top and helping her pull it up over her head. She kept her eyes on her hands as she worked to make Brittany more comfortable.

Brittany however had nowhere to look but at the girl directly in front of her, seated practically in her lap. So she watched Santana curiously, enjoying their closeness and realising perhaps for the first time ever how much she took their intimacy for granted. She loved being like this with Santana and she hated those times like at school when they had to hold back. Overcome with an over whelming need to be closer to her, Brittany wrapped her arms around Santana's neck and cuddled into her.

Santana was in the middle of removing Brittany's bra when the blonde had pressed into her and though the gesture had surprised her it was never unwelcome to Santana who tossed the bra aside and wrapped her arms around the blonde. She rubbed her hands soothingly up and down Brittany's naked back. These desperate hugs were becoming more frequent recently and Santana hoped there wasn't anything serious that the blonde was keeping from her.

Brittany focused on the sound of Santana's heart beating in her chest and the warmth of her strong arms holding her tightly against her. She focused on how being with Santana like this made her feel…

And then rather unexpectedly her thoughts strayed to other things; thoughts that she hadn't really concerned herself with before:

Like the fact that she was practically naked in Santana's arms…

That her breasts were squashed up against Santana's with only a flimsy shirt separating them…

That Santana's soft hands were ever so gently rubbing the length of her back and suddenly sending shivers down her spine…

Brittany gasped and pulled back from the hug looking at Santana with wide eyes.

"Britt, are you okay?" Santana asked and placed a caring hand over Brittany's chest. "Your heart is beating like crazy."

"I- uh," Brittany broke their eye contact and glanced away as her cheeks heated, feeling embarrassed for thinking of Santana in that way like never before. She noticed the shirt meant for her and grabbed at it, pulling it over her head before smiling dopily back at Santana, "I just remembered I hadn't cleaned my teeth yet!"

Santana chuckled and climbed off Brittany, helping her get to her feet also- not that Brittany seemed to require her help any more, darting to the bathroom as soon as her feet touched the floor.

Brittany was already brushing her teeth when Santana caught up to her and grabbed her own toothbrush to do the same. Brittany continued to steal shy glances at Santana, trying to pinpoint what it was about her that had changed exactly, but then her mind kept straying to ridiculously vulgar things like the fact that she could see Santana's nipples through her sleep shirt. Her cheeks flamed as she realised she was leering and she quickly averted her eyes.

Santana was oblivious to her friends struggle however as she went about cleaning her teeth with a mysterious smile on her face.

Eventually Brittany couldn't take Santana's smirking anymore and she spat out her mouthful of toothpaste to look at Santana anxiously, firmly believing that Santana had caught her out in her embarrassing thoughts or something.

"What?" Brittany asked expectantly.

Santana took her time spitting out her toothpaste and rinsing out her mouth. When she was all finished she smacked her lips and then moved behind Brittany, placing a hand on her hip and unzipping her skirt with the other. When the zipper was down, Santana grabbed the pleats of Brittany's Cheerios skirt with both hands and tugged it down, letting it fall to Brittany's feet.

"You forgot your skirt silly," Santana put simply as she smiled at Brittany over her shoulder and turned to return to the bedroom, leaving Brittany to blush at herself in the mirror.

Brittany knew that Santana didn't mean anything sexual by the gesture but just the sight of Santana's hands pulling her skirt down in the mirror was enough to fill Brittany's stomach with unsettling warmth. She kind of felt like she did when she was kissing; it was a nice feeling, but this was even more than that…

She took a deep breath and returned to her bedroom completely unprepared for how her body was behaving.

Santana was already in bed and holding up the covers for her to climb in when Brittany stopped and allowed her head to catch up to her body. It wasn't that she was uncomfortable in the slightest- she could never feel anything but safe and protected where Santana was concerned. Essentially Brittany did understand what was happening to her; she was realising she was attracted to Santana, more than the usual attraction she always felt for her, more than the familiar pull she'd always associated with Santana's loyalty and devotion. She was filled with curiosity over this new emotion and she was hungry to experience more of it.

Brittany climbed into bed and immediately cuddled into Santana so that their bodies were fully pressed. This wasn't uncommon for them and Brittany knew she could take advantage of the familiarity to explore her body's new reactions better.

"You're so cuddly today," Santana commented warmly as she wrapped her arms around her.

Brittany sighed at the warmth threatening to engulf her.

And then Santana shifted and was burying her face in Brittany's hair just to breathe in her scent- taking her time to familiarise herself with it.

When she raised her head with a curious look on her face, Brittany could only stare back at her blankly, unsure of what to do.

"You smell _different_," Santana stated.

Brittany blushed adding to the heat she was already feeling; she was used to Santana's heightened awareness when it came to her… but she suddenly felt self-conscious about how she smelled.

"I must still smell like beer," Brittany offered as a means of explanation.

Santana shook her head with a thoughtful look on her face; it wasn't the beer and it wasn't Puck- all lingering traces of the party had disappeared from Brittany with her change of clothes and when she'd brushed her teeth. Santana was thankful for that… which is why she knew this new twist to Brittany's scent was all Brittany.

Santana turned her face into Brittany's neck and nuzzled her experimentally, once more trying to pinpoint the new aroma.

Brittany bit her lip to hold back the whimper that tried to escape her throat at Santana's soft caresses. She moved her legs feeling fidgety all of a sudden and noticed a warm, dull ache between her legs. She'd been to Health class so she knew what this was; Santana was turning her on.

Brittany froze realising that _that _must have been what Santana had smelt on her. She tried her hardest to force all new thoughts of Santana from her head to make her arousal go away but Santana's close proximity was now driving her crazy.

Santana lifted her head again, still looking thoughtful.

"It's definitely _you_," Santana informed her, "You just smell more _raw _than usual. It's like a deep, muskier way of how you usually smell. I like it."

Brittany cheeks flamed at the idea of Santana smelling her arousal… and liking it.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Santana asked in concern as she placed a hand over Brittany's forehead and let it slip down to cup Brittany's cheek. "You're so hot."

Brittany was overwhelmed; Santana was invading all of her senses and staring back at her with that loving, adoring expression she reserved only for her and Brittany could only stare straight back, her eyes darting all over her friend's face nervously.

"Britt?" Santana whispered unsurely.

Brittany couldn't stop herself; she pushed forward smashing her lips against Santana's in a hard kiss.

Their lips were pressed for one delicious second before Santana yelped and jumped clean out of the bed.

"Brittany! What- what are you doing!" Santana gasped in high, panicked voice as she started pacing frantically back and forth, trying to comprehend what just happened.

"Santana, it's okay!" Brittany scrambled up to her knees and motioned for Santana to calm down. "Don't overreact."

"Don't overreact? Brittany you just kis-" Santana lowered her voice, remembering where they were, "You _kissed _me."

"S-so?" Brittany stuttered.

"So?" Santana responded in shock. "Listen to yourself."

"I just felt like it," Brittany muttered defensively as she sat back against the bedhead and pulled her knees up into her chest.

"Is this because Tommy imprinted?" Santana demanded. "Just because he's getting it on with his bond mate doesn't mean you should feel pressured to be that way with me."

"No Santana, it's not that," Brittany denied with a frown. "It's just… kissing is nice, I wanted to share that with you."

"So this is about Puck?" Santana realised. "You don't have to feel sorry for me because I won't get to experience _those things_ like you will. I don't care about that_ stuff."_

Brittany shook her head feeling more confused than ever.

"Look I know this imprinting stuff is tricky sometimes," Santana trailed off trying to stay calm about the situation. "And our situation is more complicated than most. Girls very rarely imprint… and no one's even heard of it happening before puberty like it did with us. We're a rare case. Especially because I imprinted on another girl too…"

"I know all this Santana," Brittany stated sullenly. "I was there that day in the park. And when your parents had to sit mine down to try and explain what had happened. I've been here since that day, learning how it all works _with you_."

"And your parents have been so supportive even though this whole idea of imprinting was completely foreign to them. They welcomed me into their house and have supported me this whole time," Santana reminded her.

"Of course, they love you," Brittany agreed.

"Because they've grown to love me as another daughter; someone who is like a sister to you, who will protect you and love you no matter what."

"They do know our relationship might change…" Brittany pointed out rebelliously.

"Imprinting doesn't mean that the pair will always become _romantic _partners. It isn't a sure thing. Every relationship is different. And I think in all the time we've known each other ours has proven that we don't need that…" Santana desperately tried to make Brittany understand. "If you'd never met me, you'd have a nice boyfriend by now. You'd be perfectly happy and living a normal life."

"Don't say that," Brittany said feeling hurt at the idea of never having Santana in her life. "If I never met you, then you'd still be all alone. You were meant to find me in the park that day. We're meant to be together."

"You have to stop worrying about me," Santana argued sternly. "You just have to focus on your own life. I've already impacted on yours enough already. I will be happy as long as you are happy. And I refuse to take away your free will because of this situation which was forced upon you."

Seeing that Brittany wasn't about to back down, Santana huffed in frustration and went looking for her jeans.

Brittany panicked as Santana picked up her crumpled jeans and started pulling them back on.

"Where are you going?" Brittany's voice cracked with emotion.

"I think you need a time out to get your head on straight. You've had a big day and you've been drinking… you're just confused. A little time away from me will help you figure this out," Santana announced with finality and she did up her jeans, bent to grab her shoes and headed for the door.

"Don't leave me," Brittany sniffed, trying to hold back tears.

Santana stopped in the doorway and dropped her head as she was filled with anguish at seeing Brittany so upset, fully knowing she was the cause. It was against her nature to hurt her bond mate. She didn't even know it was possible.

"Please don't go, I'm sorry…" Brittany was openly sobbing now.

Santana's heart was breaking at the sound and she found she couldn't do it; she couldn't leave Brittany alone like this.

Dropping her shoes to the floor, Santana spun and hurried back to bed. She climbed back to the centre and wrapped her arms around Brittany feeling the blonde cling to her as she cried into her neck. Big desperate sobs wracked the blonde's body and Santana pressed frantic kisses on top of her head as she hummed to her, rocking her back and forth trying to calm her back down.

"Shh, shh, it's okay I'm here now. I'm not going anywhere," Santana's voice trembled with emotion. "I promise."

Santana held her until Brittany's exhaustion won out and she fell asleep in her arms.

...


	5. Chapter 5

Santana felt Brittany moving and she immediately snaked her arm out over the curve of Brittany's hip to pull the warm body snug against her front in their familiar spooning position. She buried her head in the mess of hair in front of her and shook her head rebelliously.

"No cartoons this morning," Santana muttered sleepily without opening her eyes to the new day she was not yet ready to embrace. "More cuddles."

A pained whimper came from Brittany and Santana's eyes immediately shot open with concern. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and propped herself up on her arm to lean over the blonde's side so she could see her face.

"Britt? Are you okay?" Santana asked full of worry.

Brittany was curled in a ball and clutching her stomach as though in agony. She continued to make small tortured noises as she trembled on the bed, squeezing her eyes tightly shut.

"Baby, tell me what's wrong?" Santana pressed urgently as she started to panic, not understanding what was wrong with her.

Santana pulled on Brittany's shoulder encouraging her to roll over towards her. Brittany came easily and immediately latched onto Santana's shirt, squeezing the material in tensed fists.

"San, it hurts," Brittany cried as she curled into Santana's body seeking comfort.

Santana remained propped over her and pulled the covers down to scan Brittany's body for obvious signs of injury, noticing immediately that Brittany was completely naked. Santana's curiosity over when that could have happened was brushed aside as her concern grew with each whimper leaving Brittany's shaking body.

"Brittany honey-," Santana leaned down and cupped Brittany's cheek insistently, "You've got to tell me where it hurts."

Brittany's bright blue eyes opened and bore deep into Santana's soul, pleading with her to make everything better again…

A desperate whine escaped Santana's throat without her even meaning it; Brittany had never looked at her so helplessly before. She forced her own tears away needing to stay focused on what Brittany needed.

"Show me where it hurts…" Santana pleaded with increasing terror.

Brittany released her death grip on Santana's shirt and blindly clasped after Santana's hand with both of hers.

Santana let Brittany lead her as worry made her pulse pound in her ears.

Brittany pushed Santana's hand down her body and pressed it firmly between her open legs.

Santana's eyes grew impossibly wide and she fidgeted trying to pull her hand back in reflex.

"Brittany, I don't think this is a good id-" Santana fumbled as Brittany held her tightly in place. She wiggled her fingers nervously, feeling slick heat completely coating her hand.

Brittany released a torn gasp and removed one hand from her forceful grip on Santana as she slipped her other hand back up to hook her arm behind Santana's neck, pulling herself closer to bury her face there against Santana's skin.

"Please, make the pain go away," Brittany begged. "Please…"

"I- I don't know how," Santana stammered awkwardly. Something about this didn't feel right… but Brittany was in agony and it was paining her to see her this way.

"Just rub it better," Brittany strained almost impatient with Santana's stalling.

Santana used her free hand to insistently pull Brittany's head up to look at her again with searching eyes. She needed to see Brittany to make sure her touch wasn't going to hurt her more.

Brittany locked onto her and the tears in her broken pleading stare were the final straw for Santana who started rubbing her trapped hand where it was pressed, the immense wetness allowing her hand to slowly slide back and forth easily. This area of Brittany's body was totally unfamiliar to her so she was extra gentle with each soft caress.

"Yes," Brittany sighed and finally released Santana's hand completely, "There..."

Santana was sure what they were doing was completely inappropriate but she tried not to think too much about the particulars, choosing to focus instead on the matter that Brittany was in pain… and Santana was simply doing everything she could to help her.

As Brittany's moans turned from frightened pain to surprised pleasure… Santana was sure it was working.

Brittany pushed further into Santana until the blonde was lying completely on top of her. Other than the steady massaging movement of her hand, Santana was frozen lying under Brittany staring unsurely at the head of hair pressed to her chest that moved with every suggestive writhe from the blonde.

Brittany squirmed further up Santana until she was able to press her hot face against Santana's neck once more.

"_Ugh more_," Brittany breathed deeply into Santana's ear.

Santana could feel Brittany's hips rolling against her hand now and she knew the situation was quickly getting out of hand. She wanted to put a stop to it all, but Brittany was making sounds she'd never heard from her before and her innate craving for all things _Brittany _kept her hand moving to Brittany's now insistent rhythm.

Brittany pushed herself up to hover over Santana then, as if sensing Santana's resolve had crumbled and a predatory smirk replaced the distress on her face.

Santana didn't have time to feel confused because Brittany was too quick for her, leaning down to capture her lips…

Santana's vision went dark. She wasn't sure if she'd fainted or perhaps just closed her eyes because she could still feel the unforgettable sensation of Brittany's lips on hers. And then there was that overwhelming scent again that was _Brittany _all over. Except now it was far more intense than ever before. She felt saturated by it but somehow felt like she couldn't get enough either. The more she thought of what they were doing made Brittany's scent grow even more overpowering and she soaked it all up greedily until it all suddenly made perfect sense.

_Sex_.

Brittany smelled like sex.

They were having sex.

Santana gasped and her eyes flew open to the blinding sun shining in through Brittany's window. Her heart was pounding frantically at her moment of realisation only to falter and slow as her mind caught up to her body and she realised she had only been dreaming and could relax.

It had all been a dream.

She frowned and raised her head to look down over her body, lying flat on her back with legs still in jeans awkwardly tangled in bed sheets. She realised her hand was still poised in the air above her own pelvis as though "massaging" where dream Brittany should have been. Her face flushed in embarrassment and she dropped her hand quickly back to her side.

She could feel familiar eyes on her and she gingerly turned her head to see Brittany sitting up cross-legged and leaning back against the headboard beside her. Brittany was staring at her with concern.

"What were you doing?" Brittany frowned quizzically.

Santana stammered feeling her embarrassment increase. Technically she hadn't done anything wrong; she couldn't help what she dreamed about. But the subject matter was _new _and Santana wasn't sure how she was supposed to react to dreaming about Brittany that way.

She shook her head, mentally blaming Brittany for the confronting dream which could have only been directly inspired by the _incident _that was their failed kiss last night. Brittany was always the one getting them into trouble when they were younger… but of course Santana was a sucker for her and always took the blame. It seemed things hadn't changed much at all; Brittany was still filling her head with ideas that could only mean trouble…

"You were making weird noises…" Brittany informed her when Santana failed to answer.

"I was dreaming," Santana shrugged, going for blasé.

Brittany looked suspicious now, and Santana was thankful their inconceivably close bond still allowed for some separation between them; at least her thoughts remained her own. She was happy knowing that she could keep the knowledge of the dream to herself and Brittany would be none the wiser.

But her dream had given her new knowledge that she wouldn't be able to ignore now. It had fit the puzzle pieces together for her where she had unintentionally failed to do so herself…

Brittany was becoming a sexual being now.

Santana stole a shy glance Brittany's way; wanting to study her curiously because she was seemingly changing in front of her eyes. Santana really found her to be fascinating in every way.

Though she couldn't smell it on Brittany right now, she could remember the deeper, muskier inflection to her scent and Santana now understood that it meant that Brittany was sexually aroused.

It kind of made Santana blush to think that Brittany was turned on when they were cuddling last night. But then again it made her nervous too.

Santana rolled onto her side to face Brittany and propped her head up on her hand.

As absorbed as she was by recent discoveries, Santana had failed to notice the other presence in the room. Curled up on Brittany's lap was her enormously fat pet cat, Lord Tubbington.

Santana pulled a disgusted face and shifted away on the bed, trying to increase the distance between them. Santana wasn't a fan of cats- but only because she'd been rejected by them her whole life. Eventually the rejection grew to bitterness until the dislike was mutual between her and felines.

But of course Lord Tubbington had proved to be the exception.

Lord Tubbington didn't like Santana… but he didn't dislike her either. It was more of nonplussed indifference towards her stemming from the fact that technically he had been around longer than her; he was given to Brittany as a kitten the year before Santana imprinted on her and therefore he would tolerate Santana's presence because he was used to it. But mostly he just ignored her.

"Ergh Britt, why is he in our bed?" Santana complained.

"Lord Tubbington is always welcome in **my **bed," Brittany corrected her.

Santana frowned; she wanted to snarl at Tubbers who was lapping up all the loving attention from Brittany while she was clearly in the doghouse, but she thought better of it realising it would only make matters worse.

"What's wrong with you?" Santana asked, trying to ignore the sound of Lord Tubbington purring at Brittany's hands on him. "Are you still upset about last night?"

"I'm not upset," Brittany denied, "But I do think we need to talk about that…"

"Really Britt, it's okay," Santana avoided awkwardly, "I think we covered it."

Brittany sighed dramatically and removed Lord Tubbington from her lap, placing him on the floor so he could waddle out the bedroom at his leisure.

"No, you had your say… and I just cried a lot," Brittany reminded her.

"It's alright Britt, you'd been drinking and just got a bit emotional…" Santana reassured her in case she was feeling silly for getting so upset.

"No, I got emotional because I tried to kiss you and you pushed me away," Brittany recapped coldly. She sounded hurt.

Santana didn't want to make matters worse by saying the wrong thing so she said nothing at all.

"I just think we should give it a try," Brittany suggested timidly.

Santana looked at Brittany with wide panicked eyes trying to figure out if she'd just suggested what she thought she had. It was one thing to surprise her with a spontaneous kiss…but another entirely to be purposely planning for one.

"Not kissing!" Brittany rushed to correct herself with a bright blush on her cheeks. "I mean at least not yet- I just meant I think we should give it a try… you know start out slow and see what happens- with **_us_**."

"_'Us' _as in…?" Santana prompted Brittany to use specifics even though she was following the blonde just fine. She just couldn't believe Brittany was insisting on this after everything she'd explained last night.

"_'Us' _romantically," Brittany clarified shyly.

"Brittany," Santana chastised as she got out of bed and went to the window for some fresh air. "Where is all this coming from? There is no romantic 'us'."

"Well maybe there should be…" Brittany argued sourly.

"No, there shouldn't…" Santana said running a hand through her hair, trying to be patient and understanding. "I don't want that for you."

"I thought you were supposed to give me what I wanted," Brittany said stubbornly. "I thought that's how imprinting worked."

"Not if I think that what I'm giving you is wrong," Santana revealed pointedly.

Brittany huffed crankily and climbed out of bed. She walked around her room gathering various items of clothing.

"Where are you going?" Santana asked carefully.

"We're going to your house. Tommy invited us over for a swim," Brittany replied without looking at her.

"Oh, invited to my own house, how nice of him," Santana retorted sarcastically.

Brittany didn't respond though, she merely grabbed the rest of what she needed and headed towards the bathroom to get ready in private.

"I'll meet you in the car," Brittany said half-heartedly.

Santana knew a dismissal when she heard one. She sighed regretfully; already knowing today was going to be ten times more painful if Brittany was disappointed in her.

...


	6. Chapter 6

Santana gently closed the front door behind her. She had felt so sheepish having to walk through the Pierce family home on her own and pass Brittany's parents who would have undoubtedly picked up on the tension between their daughter and herself. Santana hated thinking that her pseudo parents were disappointed in her because she'd upset their daughter. She had thought she's glimpsed a couple of sympathetic smiles when she'd dared to glance their way but she didn't look twice to confirm it.

Brittany was waiting in Santana's car just as she said she would be. Santana felt nervous walking up to her which was an entirely new experience for her. It wasn't the first time they'd had a disagreement; more often than not Santana's overprotective nature had caused a few problems for them in the past but this quarrel was a completely new situation for them to be in. It wasn't like those other times where Brittany would come to realise that Santana was looking out for her because she cared so much about her- this time Santana could tell that Brittany was going to remain ridiculously stubborn just to make her uncomfortable, at the pure chance that Santana would eventually crumble as she was overcome with guilt for creating such a chasm between them.

Santana took a deep breath and opened the driver door to climb into her car. She settled herself in silence and took her time fastening her seatbelt before chancing a glance in Brittany's direction. Brittany was lazily seated across from her, pointedly looking out her window so as to not engage in conversation with her. Santana recognised the stubborn curl to the blonde's lip and sighed audibly.

Santana turned the key in the ignition when her eyes flicked down to take in the rest of Brittany's appearance. At the sight of Brittany's small triangle bikini and tiny jean shorts Santana cut the engine once more which caused Brittany to look at her quizzically.

"I think you should go change," Santana suggested sternly.

Brittany's jaw dropped incredulously at Santana's words.

"Excuse me?" Brittany questioned with obvious offense.

"I don't think what you're wearing is appropriate," Santana's firm voice became somewhat sheepish as Brittany challenged her.

Brittany scoffed through an exaggerated eye roll.

"I already have two parents Santana, and yours too at that, I don't need a fifth," Brittany drawled rebelliously as she crossed her arms and refused to back down. "These are my favourite swimmers, I always wear them."

"Your body's changing now," Santana mumbled as her face flushed; when did talking about Brittany's body get so awkward? "I didn't like the way Tommy was staring at you the last time we went swimming."

"Oh, _you _didn't like it?" Brittany defied mockingly. "Well maybe I did."

Santana's face fell instantly with hurt. Santana's relationship with her brother was already a sore subject without her feeling insecure that Brittany enjoyed his attention. Her territorial claim on Brittany clouded her judgement as jealousy filled her up and left an uncomfortable ache in her chest.

Brittany watched as the hurt washed over Santana's face and she immediately felt guilty knowing she'd pushed her too far.

"Sorry," Brittany mumbled apologetically. "I didn't mean it. And besides that was weeks ago San, Tommy has Rebekah now… he won't be looking at me anymore."

The thought that Tommy had imprinted now and would no longer be looking at Brittany with desire reassured Santana a little, though she couldn't shake the lingering taste of jealousy in her mouth.

Without acknowledging Brittany, in fear of saying the wrong thing and only making their interaction more strained, Santana turned her attention back to driving as she started the car and silently headed in the direction of her house.

Brittany felt horrible as she watched Santana numerous times on their way to the Lopez house. She really wanted to lean over and hug the girl to reassure her that today wouldn't be uncomfortable for her- Tommy just wanted them to spend some time with Rebekah to get to know her better, since she was a part of their family now. But Brittany's stubbornness from their dispute earlier kept her from bestowing any intimate displays of affection towards Santana on principle. And besides, the way Santana was seemingly rebuffing her now only seemed to stoke her determination all the more. She was just so curious about these new urges taking over her body and just wanted the opportunity to explore them further.

Of course Santana was having none of that.

Brittany wasn't fazed though; she just had to find the right way to entice her. If she was feeling attraction for Santana then surely Santana was feeling it too… or would do soon. That was how their special relationship worked after all with the _imprinting _and all that; their bond should evolve as Brittany's needs changed. This meant that Santana was only being difficult for some other stupid noble reason that left Brittany frustrated to no end.

So wrapped up in her thoughts, Brittany didn't realise they were already at Santana's house until the car came to abrupt stop and Brittany's attention focused on the fact that they were parked in the big familiar driveway. The Lopez house was as familiar to Brittany as her own, having spent as much time here growing up as she did at her own residence. When the two young girls had bonded with Santana's unexpected imprinting that day in the park, the only way their parents were able to deal with Santana's separation anxiety which seemed to manifest itself in physical pain, was to raise the two girls together. It began with an impromptu sleepover that very first evening and although time and practice made Santana's pains fade, the girls continued to happily move back and forth between their respective houses so they could always be together while still remaining a part of their own core family. It meant that their individual families gained an extra member… and as a result their collaborative cooperation and dedication to the duo's challenging upbringing meant they'd all grown closer as one extended family unit. Santana and Brittany could now always come and go as they pleased and both were always welcome in either household.

Brittany looked around for the Lopez family car not seeing it anywhere.

"Your parent's still aren't home?" Brittany asked casually so as to test the water, so to speak.

"They're gone all weekend I guess," Santana answered with an awkward shrug. Santana hated this new strained feeling hovering over her as she interacted with Brittany. Being around Brittany was as natural to her as breathing usually… but now she just felt hesitant about her every move.

Brittany squealed excitedly, suddenly catching Santana by surprise as she kicked her door open and jumped out, moving quickly to greet the pack of stray dogs which hung around Santana's house and had excitedly all bolted to the front lawn at their appearance. It was Santana's presence who drew them but Brittany's enthusiasm proved equally distracting as they turned on the blonde jumping up and dancing on their back legs trying to get her attention. They showered her with affection as their tails wagged out of control and they practically tried to lick her to death.

Santana climbed out of her seat and locked the car, trying to hide her amusement behind a scowl. The stray dogs were a familiar sight around her property though they respectfully never intruded any further on Lopez territory. The pack was always changing but certain dogs had become familiar to her over the years. Her family didn't feed or care for them or anything- they weren't pets- they simply hung around as though they were feeding off whatever lingering canine mysticism lingered in the Lopez blood. The Lopez's would often express indifference to the adoring dedication of the local hounds but secretly they held a soft spot for the wayward pooches.

Brittany was giggling in delight at the dogs' antics and for just a moment everything was perfect between them once again as Brittany grinned happily over at Santana as she was accidentally knocked to the grass by one of the persistent larger dogs. Santana rushed to her aid and pulled her back to her feet as the dogs scattered at Santana's approach to watch from an acceptable distance. Santana shooed them off for good measure even though she knew they understood they'd already overstayed their welcome for now.

Brittany mumbled a shy 'thanks' as she found herself standing in Santana's arms before seemingly remembering she was supposed to be angry at her and hurriedly stepped away.

Thankfully Santana was saved from further awkwardness by an insistent yelp from the front door as Santana looked to the top of the stairs of the front landing to see a little, extremely pregnant dog excitedly wagging its tail.

'_Mama' _as this stray had so aptly been named, had grown on the Lopez family the moment it showed up pregnant and hungry on their doorstep. Unlike the other dogs, Mama had wiggled all the way into the Lopez's hearts and was now as close to a family pet as any dog was ever going to get. She was allowed inside the house and had her own basket and food bowl.

"Hey Big Mama," Santana said affectionately as she closed the distance to the small dog quivering with excitement on the top step. She scratched behind the dog's ear and took in the sight of the animal's swollen belly. By the look of her she had to be close to full term now with a litter of puppies about to burst from her at any moment. Santana had big plans for one of those puppies… She intended to give the best one to Brittany, if only to have a bit of moral support against Lord Tubbington every now and again.

Brittany appeared at her side, cooing playfully down at Mama as she rushed to cuddle her.

"Look at you!" Brittany exclaimed as though she hadn't seen the dog only a couple of days ago when they'd last stayed here. "You're gonna make the best mama!"

Mama's tail wagged proudly at all the attention as though she actually understood what Brittany was saying.

"Ah, the prodigal sister returns!" A male voice sounded as the front door opened to reveal a handsome young man with merely a towel wrapped around his waist.

Santana rolled her eyes at her brother's appearance, noting that he wasn't wet so it wasn't as though he had just showered or already been in the pool… which meant that the towel was probably just being used as a quick fix to mask his nudity. She was instantly reminded of why she didn't want to be around Tommy and his new bond mate Rebekah while they had the Lopez house to themselves for the weekend. She just hoped her brother had respected her wishes that her room at least remain off limits to their unrestricted freedom to be together.

"Hi Tommy," Brittany said excitedly as she moved to embrace the boy. The action seemed to surprise him and he awkwardly managed to return the hug though he seemed uncomfortable about it.

Santana frowned as she watched the interaction; but not for the reasons she thought she would. Seeing Tommy's discomfort at Brittany's physical greeting piqued her curiosity- Tommy had never been so uncomfortable around Brittany before- more often than not usually enjoying Brittany's attention far more than Santana liked. Yet this seemed to be another change she could see in her brother that came with his imprinting on Rebekah. Santana tried not to acknowledge the relief that filled her when she realised Tommy was no longer interested in Brittany, though she felt a little defensive about the fact that he actually seemed a little repelled by her.

The other change in Tommy was of course the change in his physical appearance. He had always been fit- as one of the stars of the Varsity football team at McKinley- but his recent imprinting on Rebekah had seemed to shape his physique into a whole new realm of chiselled features. He'd buffed up practically overnight and now proudly sported a well-muscled, toned body which he more often than not didn't bother covering up- especially whenever Rebekah was around. It had something to do with hormones and a whole bunch of other boring stuff that Santana didn't understand about regular imprinting, usually only after a boy had reached puberty. Santana could only interpret it as the male's body shaping itself to become more physically appealing and strong enough to be the best possible mate they could be for the person they had imprinted on. Of course each imprinting scenario was different and being "physically appealing" wasn't always required- it was just how it had most commonly occurred in the last few generations of Lopez men.

Santana watched Brittany closely as she pulled back from Tommy's naked chest; just because Tommy didn't appear to be affected by Brittany's presence anymore, it didn't mean that Brittany wouldn't be. She couldn't tell for herself- but she supposed Tommy was a very attractive male, especially now in his prime- she figured he was now the epitome of what girls were physically attracted to… and Santana suddenly found herself worrying that Brittany would in turn be attracted to him.

If Brittany was affected by him her face and demeanour didn't show it and Santana's attention was returned to Tommy as he stepped aside and ushered the girls inside, patiently waiting for Mama to waddle inside behind them before closing the door.

"Rebekah and I were just upstairs uh- … grabbing some bathing suits," Tommy faltered awkwardly as she remembered who he was talking to. "Meet you out back?"

Brittany nodded excitedly; seemingly oblivious to what Santana knew was really going on upstairs, which their arrival had apparently interrupted. Santana's acknowledging scoff was her only answer as she turned her back on her brother and headed through her house towards the backyard and their large swimming pool. She could hear Brittany trailing her through the house and she was relieved that Brittany didn't appear to be trying to completely ignore her at least.

...


	7. Chapter 7

Brittany was completely ignoring her.

Santana was standing in the shallows idly splashing at the water around her hips while she blatantly stared at Brittany with a broody look on her face. She didn't care how obvious she was being- in fact she was kind of hoping Brittany would notice her standing around moping and then take pity on her. But Brittany didn't look her way even once, she just kept on sunbaking at the other end of the pool beside Rebekah. The two girls had clicked straight away and had already spent the better half of the past hour giggling together about things Santana was too far away to eavesdrop on.

Santana was getting used to the unsettling feeling of jealousy now… not that she viewed Rebekah as a threat, but she was seriously craving some attention from Brittany by this point. And as much as Santana really wanted to like her brother's bond mate, Rebekah just wasn't making a good impression on her by hogging Brittany all to herself. Santana knew it was mostly her own fault though; Rebekah had seemed interested in spending quality time with Santana too and had already made numerous attempts to call her over to join them, but Santana was feeling too indecisive about approaching Brittany when she was clearly not happy with her and she had waved off the summons awkwardly. The longing to be closer to the blonde definitely felt much worse when she knew Brittany was purposely overlooking her.

And so she stood alone at the opposite side of the pool not even bothering to put on a believable façade of enjoying herself.

"Trouble in paradise, sis?"

Tommy's nearby deep voice startled Santana enough to tear her eye's away from Brittany. He was leaning against the side of the pool, close enough that it unsettled Santana that he'd been there without her even realising.

"Paradise?" Santana scoffed in query. She had a feeling he was implying more than just their current lazing about in their luxurious family pool on a sunny Saturday.

"You and Brittany," Tommy provided carefully, knowing Santana's temper well.

"What about us?" Santana questioned a little too defensively.

"You haven't said two words to each other since you got here…"

"Well we're always together, we don't need to constantly talk to each other," Santana shrugged dismissively.

"And you haven't so much as touched each other," Tommy pointed out. "You normally can't keep your hands off her."

Santana face heated as she took offense to Tommy's suggestive words; with the current sting of the situation, the implication that she is usually all over Brittany definitely was a bit too much to hear and she hoped it was just an exaggeration.

"I'm just calling it as I see it," Tommy said as he held up his hands in mock surrender. "She's clearly not happy… which means you're obviously not doing something right."

Santana opened her mouth to argue but realised she didn't really have any grounds to defend herself. Tommy was kind of right- she did have it in her ability to give Brittany exactly what she wanted and she was in a roundabout way purposely withholding it from her. So she was really to blame for why Brittany was ignoring her after all.

Santana bit her lip and looked at Tommy tentatively; it would probably help her to talk to someone who wasn't Brittany about all this. And Tommy was just like her now- having imprinted recently, so he would know how she was feeling…

But that didn't stop her from feeling hesitant about sharing such personal information- even if he was her brother.

"Brittany tried to kiss me last night," Santana revealed quietly as she flicked her eyes to the blonde to make sure she wasn't listening. Brittany had her head thrown backwards; laughing skyward and Santana frowned because quite frankly any outsider looking in would see Brittany having the time of her life right now. Santana wondered how Tommy had found the insight to know that something wasn't quite right between them. It was probably the fact that Santana was cowering as far away from the blonde as the pool would allow.

When Tommy didn't respond Santana looked back to him, already prepared for the disgusted look that would have surely transformed his face at this news.

Santana was surprised to see that he mostly looked bored.

"So?" He prompted when he realised Santana wasn't going to continue.

"Well she tried to kiss me and I told her not to and now she's pissed," Santana ranted in a flustered hush.

"Wait, you said 'no'?" Tommy repeated looking dumbstruck and a little in awe.

Santana wasn't quite expecting this response and she started fidgeting uncomfortably as he continued to stare at her in amazement as though he'd never looked at her properly before.

"I mean- I know I'm new to all this but if Rebekah's in _the mood_, there's no way I can stop myself from giving her exactly what she wants, if you know what I mean," Tommy revealed with a slightly awkward chuckle as he remembered who he was talking to. "You must have incredible control. But then again you have had a lot more time to practice your restraint…"

Santana frowned, not wanting to read too much into his words for the benefit of her own sanity.

"I just don't want her thinking our relationship has to change because yours is like that now," Santana put simply. "Just because I imprinted on her it doesn't mean I expect her to be _with_ me you know…"

Tommy was still silently staring at her, but now looking terribly confused.

"So she's been pressuring you with the – uh… _couple_ _stuff_ lately? Just because Beka and I can't get enough of each other..?"

Tommy started laughing obnoxiously making Santana feel like boxing him over the ears. He even wiped away a stray tear that had unexpectedly leaked from his eye at such amusement. Santana was sure he was going to gain the others' attention if he continued to carry on like this.

"Shh," Santana hushed, feeling incredibly exposed.

"Stop being such a pussy sis, your woman obviously wants more from you and you're not fulfilling her needs. That's all there is to it," Tommy educated mockingly. "Stop making excuses and do what comes naturally; give her what she wants- no matter how _tired_ you may be."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Santana informed him scathingly, not appreciating his haughty tone at all. "This is the first time anything like this has happened. We're not like you two- we don't kiss and _stuff_…"

"Wait, what?" Tommy chimed quizzically not quite following the conversation all of a sudden.

"That's the whole problem," Santana released an exasperated sigh. "Brittany clearly thinks that we have to be like you and Rebekah all of a sudden. And she won't believe me when I tell her that we don't have to be. "

"Wait a minute, so what you're telling me is that you and _Brittany_-" Tommy pointed over at Brittany forwardly for emphasis, causing Santana to hurriedly smack his hand down before Brittany noticed and realised they were talking about her. "You two don't have s-, you guys don't… you aren't like _intimate_?"

Tommy looked flustered as he tried to broach the subject tastefully with his younger sister, which in turn only made Santana feel more awkward.

"Intimate- like _sexually_? No, of course not!" Santana denied quickly as her cheeks continued to burn in a way that had nothing to do with the sun.

"Why not?" Tommy questioned in absolute shock. "She's hot."

Santana's jaw dropped and she had to resist the urge to forcibly push her brother. She always knew he used to perve on Brittany.

"I mean, I used to think so… and just because I can't see past Beka now to pick up on these sorts of things any more, it doesn't mean that Brittany isn't _hot_ still," Tommy rushed to clarify. "I mean I'm sure you can see it, she is yours after all."

Santana wanted to correct him by making it clear that Brittany wasn't anyone's possession but something he'd said side-tracked her. Though, she did secretly admit to herself that she liked thinking of Brittany as 'hers'.

Santana looked at Brittany trying to pinpoint this 'hotness' Tommy spoke of but her mind kept reaching the same conclusion.

"She's _Brittany_," Santana shrugged. She couldn't identify parts of Brittany that she liked more or less than others. Brittany just was.

Tommy pinched at the bridge of his nose realising the gravity of the task placed in front of him.

"I keep forgetting you imprinted so young," Tommy sighed as he pushed himself out of the shallow water to sit on the side with feet dangling. He patted the space beside him on the warm tiles in invitation for her to join him.

Santana hesitated, feeling that this whole getting comfortable gesture meant the conversation was about to take a meaningful turn but she eventually caved and hopped up on the pool edge beside him.

"You know I was a late bloomer as far as imprinting goes, which means I've had a pretty normal teenage experience. I used to date girls and fool around with them as much as I could. I had the chance to explore what it was I liked most about them… and I mean I'm a guy- so that pretty much meant boobs and arse..."

Santana's brow creased as she listened to Tommy's story all the while continuing to watch Brittany.

"So I knew what attracted me to girls and I took full advantage of that, never getting into anything serious because I knew I'd imprint one day and that would be more of a serious commitment than I could ever prepare for," Tommy recounted.

Santana just shrugged when she felt his eyes on her; she knew all this already. Tommy had always been a top stud at McKinley all through high school, until recently this year when he'd just stopped. Santana knew of course that it was because he'd finally met Rebekah.

"I'm just trying to point out that you imprinting on Brittany at such a young age meant that you didn't get to experience those things. You haven't had the chance to feel attracted to someone or figure out what gets you going," Tommy voiced thoughtfully. "Theoretically you're not even a sexual person."

Santana scoffed taking offense to Tommy's words. She would wager that her dream this morning was a mighty sexual scenario for her to be thinking about – albeit subconsciously. But she wasn't going to tell him or anyone else about that.

"Just hear me out okay," Tommy bartered. "And don't take offense to this okay… but you don't have any _experience_ right?"

Having this conversation with her brother of all people was making her feel incredibly uncomfortable but she willed herself to continue if only to learn the point Tommy was trying to make with all this nonsense.

Tommy took her lack of response as much admittance as he was going to get.

"And it's not because you _can't_, physically you can… but it's just because you don't want to right? Because you can't see past Brittany to take note of what anyone else has to offer..?"

Santana's interest perked at that point and she looked to Tommy for more insight. What he'd just suggested was correct, she'd just never thought about it before. It would explain why she never got crushes growing up or joined in on the games of spin the bottle at the few parties she'd attended. No one else had ever caught her eye because all she could think about was Brittany.

"You probably don't even know what it is about a person that makes them attractive to you, right?" Tommy questioned with interest.

Santana just shrugged again; she knew of those qualities that people deemed attractive. She could identify a guy with a nice chest or a girl with big breasts and know that those things were supposed to make that person attractive… but she just didn't feel it personally.

"Well I'm going to put you out of your misery," Tommy informed her knowledgably. "You're attracted to Brittany."

Santana opened her mouth to protest but Tommy continued before she had a chance.

"You were attracted to her the day you met and you've been attracted to her all this time. It's the reason you imprinted on her. Something about her drew you to her- probably a lot earlier than nature anticipated but it happened… and now you're both growing up and that attraction is going to start to show itself in a lot of different ways that you're probably unprepared for," Tommy was patient and understanding while also not bothering to waste any more time when the answer was simple. "Just take my word for it, it's a perk of being a Lopez- your ability to imprint just took the hard part – and some would argue the fun part- out of it. You've already found your perfect match and by the sounds of her come on last night, she already feels it even if you won't allow yourself to."

"But-" Santana didn't know how to voice her distress. She wanted to ask why she didn't find Brittany '_attractive' _as she was supposed to but that sounded like she was saying there was something wrong with Brittany which was impossible; Brittany was perfect.

"Okay, stay with me…" Tommy proposed as he tried for a different approach and waved in Brittany's direction. "Let's look at Brittany objectively."

Santana did as she was instructed and looked over at Brittany once more, trying to do so with an objective eye and not let her own personal attachment get in the way.

"She's lean and muscular- fit from all her dancing and being on the Cheerios…"

Santana nodded along at Tommy's observations being able to see all those things.

"She has long legs and a curvy butt…"

Santana bit her lip and glanced unsurely at Tommy as he continued to objectively stare at Brittany after having just talked about her butt. She'd never really thought about Brittany's butt before, and now she just felt kind of dirty for focusing just on that particular attribute.

But Tommy was still talking and she focused on that instead.

"Her boobs are kind of small, but they fit her physique yeah?" Tommy asked for her input.

Santana kind of half shrugged. She knew what Brittany's breasts look like, she'd seen them up close and now seeing her in that tiny triangle bikini it was hard not to notice the swell of her chest. But she felt bad agreeing that they were small like they could be bigger. Santana knew breasts could be bigger- heck even her own boobs were bigger than Brittany's… but that didn't mean that there was anything wrong with them. She liked the size of Brittany's breasts.

"Right, so now, how do you feel about all that?" Tommy posed.

"I dunno, I like it all because it's who Brittany is," Santana offered lamely.

Tommy rolled his eyes in a very signature Lopez way.

"No but how do you _feel_ when you think about her body? Like for instance how do you feel when you think about her boobs," Tommy began to blush, once again remembering how awkward a conversation this was to be having with his little sister. "Like if you think about- err you know, like- touching them."

Santana began to mull the thought over in her head because she knew she'd touched Brittany's breast before but only when she'd accidentally brushed by them- she'd never taken them in her hand and squeezed them as she was sure Tommy was suggesting by 'touching'. Again it was something she'd never considered before and while she was suddenly curious, the back of her head was reminding her that _touching_ like that wasn't between friends.

But before she could really think too much about it, Tommy was leaping away with an uncomfortable cry.

"I'm sorry sis, but I just can't do this. It's weird," Tommy admitted, finally reaching his wits end at having a sex talk with his sister. "You're just going to have to cuddle up with her and watch a sexy movie… and just let nature take its course."

Tommy shook his head as the visual he'd obviously been trying to avoid all this time, finally crept up on him.

Santana floundered a bit- she still had so many questions now that she was being receptive to what he had to say.

"You'll figure it out, just stop fighting it. If Brittany is feeling that way then it's natural that you'll start to notice her in a whole new light," Tommy shrugged, still subtly edging away as he tried to escape the conversation while still just hanging around long enough to fulfil his supportive big brother role. "It won't change how I or anyone else that matters sees you; I figured you two had been sleeping together for years. Even Mom and Dad stopped tucking you guys in at twelve because they thought you'd started getting handsy already…"

Santana flushed brightly at the idea of her parents believing that she and Brittany had been sexual all this time. If that was the impression they were giving off then surely the Pierce's would be thinking along the same lines. Her mortification blossomed further at the thought of Brittany's parents constantly thinking she was touching their daughter all those nights she'd stay at their house.

And then just as she was opening up to the idea that maybe letting something more happen between she and Brittany- since the expectation had apparently passed, the true crux of the problem tumbled out of her lips in a small, timid voice.

"But what if I'm just a phase?" Santana asked looking terrified.

Tommy halted his retreat and in fact moved closer to her once more.

"Tana?" He pressed for more tentatively, seeing the desperate emotion take a hold of her.

Santana's eyes dropped to her hands that were twisting uncomfortably in her lap.

"What if she's just curious about all these new urges she's feeling and she just feels safer exploring them with me?" Santana tried to voice her fears. "Girls do that sometimes. What if she gets over it and moves on? I don't want to _know_ Britt _that way_ if it means I'll have to forget _knowing_ her when she finds someone new."

Santana didn't realise she was crying until she happened to catch a fallen tear in the palm of her hand. She hurriedly squeezed her hand into a fist to hide the evidence of her inner turmoil. But Tommy could already tell she was upset and surprised her with a strong hug.

Santana immediately froze at the gesture; she wasn't used to anyone but Brittany hugging her and at first she didn't know how to react. But eventually she relaxed and actually wrapped her arms around her brother's back, taking comfort in the embrace.

"I know that's a scary thought Santana, but it's a part of who we are. Even I can't count for sure that Rebekah will always stick around. The nature of our bonds change with time and while I can't imagine not having Beka the way I do now… if for some reason in the future she doesn't wish to be with me then I too will have to accept that. I'm sure I won't ever be able to ever forget, but I think if that happens I will come to accept it and just be there for her in other ways." Tommy squeezed her tighter as he finished whispering encouragement in her ear, "We are exactly who they need us to be. Remember that."

"San?" Brittany's small, worried voice interrupted the heartfelt moment.

Santana gasped and pulled away from her brother to wipe at her teary eyes before looking at Brittany who was hesitantly standing in the shallows not too far away with an intense look of concern on her face. She'd seen the siblings embracing and rushed to Santana's side without second thought.

Tommy kissed Santana on the forehead and then quickly took his leave, having noticed Rebekah hovering at the edge of the pool also looking concerned. He led her inside leaving Santana and Brittany alone once more.

"San, are you okay?" Brittany asked as she stepped closer until she was standing directly in front of Santana who was still perched on the edge of the pool.

"What do you care?" Santana avoided sullenly, feeling incredibly exposed and vulnerable after her talk with her brother.

Brittany made a hushing 'tsk' noise as she moved to embrace Santana as Tommy had been, only she stepped between Santana's bent legs so she could be even closer and buried her face in Santana's neck.

"I don't wanna fight any more," Santana mumbled into Brittany's shoulder.

"Me either," Brittany admitted but said nothing more; she just remained firmly squeezing Santana within her arms.

Santana took some deep breaths, allowing her emotions to get back in check while also allowing relief to wash over her. With Tommy's encouragement in the back of her head she took a moment to appreciate the way she felt pressed up so tight against Brittany. The breasts she'd been thinking about earlier were now forcibly squashed up against her own and Santana was quite certain she could feel Brittany's hard nipples through the damp bikini material. She smiled as she allowed herself to realise how nice this all felt.

"This is nice," Santana hummed appreciatively, figuring that telling Brittany was as good a place to start as any. "Hugging you always feels nice."

Brittany must have picked up on the change in Santana's tone because she pulled back slightly to look into Santana's warm brown eyes with a bright, curious sparkle to her own blue.

"I love hugging you," Brittany agreed enthusiastically as she wore an almost shy smile.

"Well what would you say if we pop in a dvd and finish this hug up in my room?" Santana asked nervously for reasons she didn't quite understand.

Brittany squealed excitedly and made a mad dash for the pool stairs as fast as the water would let her. When she got there Santana was already up and standing with a big fluffy towel ready to wrap her in. Brittany noted immediately that it was Santana's towel seeing as Brittany had forgotten to bring her own, which would leave Santana to stand there dripping on the warm tiles if Brittany accepted it from her. So instead Brittany quickly stepped in close to press up against Santana once more.

"We can share," Brittany supplied in explanation.

The girls giggled as Santana wrapped the big towel around the both of them, already leaving their disagreement far behind as they made each other laugh trying to get dry as fast as they could.

...


	8. Chapter 8

Still sharing their towel and walking impossibly close, Santana had managed to manoeuvre Brittany and guide the two of them through her house. Climbing the stairs when they were now practically one person but with four legs had been a challenge that kept them giggling the entire way until they were in Santana's room and standing at the foot of her bed. Santana had committed to falling on the bed then which had resulted in pulling Brittany along with her and they landed unceremoniously lying side by side.

Brittany was laughing joyfully which brought the biggest smile to Santana's face just by watching her. It all felt so much better now that everything was good between them again.

Brittany sensed Santana's stare and let the laughter die away while keeping the huge smile on her lips.

"You make me so happy," Brittany admitted genuinely.

Santana smiled even wider at that as pride swelled in her chest; she was so proud of Brittany and honoured to be the one that could put such a beautiful smile on her face.

"You deserve to be happy," Santana replied without missing a beat.

Seeing Brittany happy was infectious for Santana and made her equally happy in turn. Maybe they could be happy _together- _it really was so easy to picture it.

Brittany rolled her eyes playfully; taking Santana's comment at face value as something that of course Santana would concern herself with- always only _her_ happiness and sparing no thought for herself.

"Yes well like I said, **you** are what makes me happy," Brittany repeated trying to make her point obvious.

"And like I said, well in that case you deserve to be happy…" Santana also repeated, willing Brittany to understand that she got it now- if them together was what Brittany wanted, then it would inevitably happen eventually. She was already growing more open to the idea the longer she lay cuddled in Brittany's warmth with bright blue eyes staring back at her.

Brittany's eyebrows rose in surprise as she stared back at Santana with an astonished and yet hesitant look in her eyes, not believing what she'd just heard Santana say and not wanting to get her hopes up. She clearly believed she'd mistaken Santana's meaning. But then Santana was winking at her mysteriously and untangling herself from the towel and Brittany could only watch in amazement as she realised that Santana was finally agreeing with her on this. Brittany was filled with nervous excitement at the mere thought that Santana was considering her suggestion that they try more than their usual cuddling. Brittany really wasn't expecting a change of heart so soon though and she quickly realised she wasn't prepared.

"I need to pee," Brittany suddenly shouted as she lay frozen staring after Santana who moved to put a dvd on. She really didn't need to use the bathroom, but she did need a breather to gather her wits and a bathroom break would give her a few private minutes alone.

"Okay…" Santana drawled at Brittany's panicked exclamation. "Well you know where it is…"

Brittany blushed when she realised how silly she was being and scrambled off the bed to power walk into Santana's en suite, closing the door firmly behind her.

Santana frowned after her but as soon as the bathroom door closed she allowed herself to take a much needed deep breath of her own. Her heart was pounding in her chest rapidly. She'd been trying to subtly convey to Brittany that she was maybe willing to try now… but then the look that crossed Brittany's face conveyed that she understood completely and then suddenly they were both lying there clearly thinking the exact same thing and Santana had panicked. She still didn't know how she'd managed to wink suggestively in confirmation at Brittany before bolting from the blonde's side and stalling by busying herself with the task of setting up the movie.

She'd never felt so unsure of herself before. Tommy's point about her inexperience was ringing in her ears as she realised she didn't know the first thing about initiating _more_ with Brittany. Not that she would be the one initiating anything anyway… but she still needed to know what to do if Brittany tried to do _anything_.

Santana was quickly psyching herself out.

Why didn't Tommy give her more pointers on _what_ to do?

Health class had taught her the logistics of what was supposed to happen biologically between two people when it came to sexual relations… but that was always involving a man and a woman. Everything else that she'd heard was possible was based on schoolyard gossip and whatever she'd seen happen in movies. And other than the initial brief contact of Brittany's lips on hers last night, Santana didn't even know the first thing about kissing someone, which was most likely going to be the starting point for everything else. If she couldn't even get that right she was going to be screwed for figuring out the rest…

Meanwhile in the bathroom Brittany was already pumped.

She'd scrunched up her still damp hair going for what she hoped was a sexy dishevelled look and adjusted her bikini top so that her breasts looked even perkier than usual.

As excited as Brittany was to try this with Santana she knew she had to take things slow because Santana was still definitely a flight risk; the brunette had done a complete 180 on her in less than two hours after all. Brittany figured that if she could get as much as a kiss from Santana it would be a great achievement and good starting point for their future experimentation… even if that meant ignoring her teenage curiosity to try as much as possible.

Of course Brittany didn't have much experience to go on either… she'd shared a few innocent kisses with boys over the course of the previous year but hadn't had a proper kiss until Puck had laid one on her at the party earlier last evening. She hadn't been lying when she'd told Santana that she'd enjoyed it because even though it was rougher and sloppier than she'd always imagined her first kiss to be, it had still been exciting. She didn't really even like Puck that way, even though all the other Cheerios had been jealous that he seemed to have his eye on her, but she'd been flattered by the attention and curious mostly- so she'd kissed him back. Now more than anything she was just thankful because his kiss had opened her eyes up to a whole world of possibilities. It was like she was somehow older and wiser now… which made her all the more hungry to experience even more.

And now she had the chance to explore it all with Santana whom she loved and trusted more than anyone else in the world.

Brittany grinned at herself in the mirror; this was going to be so awesome.

Santana was now standing in front of her full length mirror completely second guessing herself. All she could think about was everything Tommy had said about being attracted to someone and rather than worrying anymore if she was attracted to Brittany enough- because who was she really kidding- no one else even registered on her radar… Santana was more concerned that Brittany wasn't really attracted to her, but merely comfortable with her. It wasn't such a bad alternative really but a part of Santana really wanted Brittany to _want_ her more than anyone else. Brittany was popular at school and more boys than just Puck were chasing after her. Everything about Santana was different to those guys and she wasn't entirely sure that it put her ahead of them on Brittany's radar.

Santana shook her head hoping to clear it of these foreign, self-conscious thoughts. Surely she was being silly and overthinking matters; as far as she could tell Brittany was turned on last night because of her which meant that something about her had got Brittany going. She frowned at her reflection wishing she could figure it out what it was that had done it. If she could somehow work that element to her advantage then maybe she wouldn't feel so clueless about what they were going to do.

Too absorbed in her own worry, Santana didn't notice Brittany had re-entered her room until the blonde's head appeared over her shoulder and pale arms wrapped around her midsection.

"What are you looking at?" Brittany asked curiously as she perched her chin on Santana's shoulder and joined Santana in staring at their reflection.

"Have you noticed how buff Tommy has got lately?" Santana asked with genuine interest on the subject.

"Yeah it's kind of hard not to, he's totally ripped now," Brittany agreed as she nodded up and down on Santana's shoulder. She even sounded impressed.

Santana made a 'hmph' noise distastefully as she looked over her own body in the mirror once again.

"What's wrong?" Brittany cooed with a pout as she noticed Santana's obvious concern.

"Why do you think that imprinting gave Tommy huge muscles and yet it left me so small and scrawny?" Santana asked.

"You're hardly scrawny," Brittany scoffed in amusement. "Yes you are small, but not like _Rachel Berry_ small. And what do you think these are?"

Brittany slid her hand further around Santana's front to run her fingers up and down the defined grooves of Santana's tight abdomen. She smiled when she felt Santana's stomach twitch beneath her fingertips.

"You're pretty ripped too," Brittany commented as a whisper as she became entranced by her hand's progress.

It was only Santana's small nervous cough that snapped Brittany out of it and returned her hand to rest on Santana's hip. Santana was watching her face curiously in the mirror making Brittany blush all the more.

"But like not in an over the top _'too much'_ way, you know…" Brittany cleared her throat and went on to explain properly. "The imprinting probably helped _shape_ you a bit just like Tommy- helped along by all the running you do too… but not to the point where you've lost any of your _femininity_ either."

Santana was watching Brittany's face closely the entire time she spoke and noted the way Brittany's eyes rested on the swell of her breasts when she started mentioning 'femininity'. It was a strange sensation to feel like Brittany was caressing her with her eyes and it made her want to squirm where she stood.

"Don't worry you're really sexy San," Brittany admired without any filter.

"_Sexy_?" Santana repeated shyly. Brittany thought she was sexy?

"Yeah, totally," Brittany insisted with a warm, intrigued inflection at Santana's reaction. "Didn't you know how hot you are?"

Santana blushed and shook her head feeling incredibly embarrassed all of a sudden. The only thing keeping her standing in front of the mirror was Brittany's sincere, reassuring embrace. She felt so exposed standing there in only a bikini top- granted it was more of a crop top and covered her better than Brittany's style did, but it was still only a bikini- accompanied by the matching bottoms. Every other inch of her body was on display and now more than ever before she felt shy that Brittany could see it all.

What the hell was happening to her? Only last night she was stripping down and getting changed in front of Brittany without a care in the world. Now she didn't know how to feel.

"Yep, whereas people like me have to accept this is as good as it's going to get," Brittany continued with a resigned sigh as she pulled away from Santana.

"What do you mean?" Santana asked in concern as she turned to follow Brittany not liking the tone she detected in the blonde's voice.

"Well don't you think my boobs are a bit small?" Brittany pointed out self-consciously as she looked at the floor. "I'm probably smaller than most of the girls at school."

"No Britt-" Santana began soothingly as she stepped closer to the blonde once more. She had no idea Brittany was feeling insecure about her body and it filled her with guilt for having not seen the signs sooner. Santana had to reassure her because just as she'd expressed in her own inner monologue earlier, Brittany was absolutely perfect just the way she was. She was quickly realising she should never have kept such praise to herself- she should have shared it with Brittany as much as she could. "Please don't talk like that."

"Why not?" Brittany shrugged.

"Because you're perfect baby," Santana encouraged as she raised Brittany's chin to look at her once more. She wanted Brittany to see the sincerity in her eyes. "All of you- especially your boobs."

Santana's bright smile fell from her face as she watched Brittany's eyes widen and she realised it was because she'd placed her hand directly over Brittany's right breast, gently cupping her in the palm of her hand in a gesture that was meant to be supportive of her words but just left her feeling very presumptuous all of a sudden.

Santana snatched her hand away as she jumped further from Brittany.

"I'm sorry!" Santana yelped as she backpedalled.

"No, no it's okay," Brittany smiled through a blush as she moved to follow Santana.

"I didn't… I didn't mean-" Santana started stumbling over her words as she realised how forward she had been.

"Santana, it's okay," Brittany stated carefully trying to get Santana to calm down. "Really… I liked it."

Santana froze as she took in Brittany's words and the shy smile on her face, feeling the heat already filling her own cheeks at Brittany's admission.

"Let's just watch the movie…" Brittany suggested as she moved over to sit on the edge of Santana's bed, patting the space beside her.

"I, uh…" Santana stalled as she glanced from Brittany's reassuring face, to her hand still patting the bed… and then to the inviting sanctuary of the bathroom. "I need to shower."

Brittany frowned, "Now?"

"I just feel really sticky after swimming…" Santana shrugged as she made a dash for the bathroom. It was kind of true; she did feel uncommonly hot and bothered but she was pretty sure it had nothing to do with swimming and everything to do with being in this situation with Brittany. She just needed a few moments to compose herself once more and perhaps some cold water would help the process along a bit.

"Oh, okay… I guess I'll just wait here then?" Brittany suggested.

Santana peeked from behind the bathroom door and nodded vigorously.

"Yeah, you pick the movie," Santana encouraged. "I won't be long."

And with that Santana shut the door leaving Brittany to flop back against the bed in frustration.

...


	9. Chapter 9

Santana pressed her forehead against the cold surface of the door and took deep even breaths. She was mentally kicking herself for behaving the way she was as though terrified of Brittany. The thought really seemed absurd to her and yet here she was, hiding away in the bathroom. She would have banged her head against the door a few times at how much of a loser she was being if she didn't think it would get Brittany's attention.

Santana wasn't really someone who cared about what others thought of her- it was probably another consequence of imprinting, since she only let herself be concerned with what Brittany cared about. And the only time she considered others' opinions was when her actions would somehow impact on Brittany; she did constantly worry what Brittany's parents thought of her and how she was treating Brittany because their opinions counted… and she did worry about jeopardising Brittany's popularity at school, not wanting to be the reason why kids talked about her for the wrong reasons.

But now Santana couldn't help thinking about how the kids at school would laugh at her now, completely clueless and hiding away in her bathroom when the person she loved more than anyone else in the world was waiting for her and willing to try _stuff_.

_Sex stuff._

Everything had changed so fast. Yesterday she could hug Brittany and it didn't have to _mean_ anything… and now every gesture seemed to have some hidden meaning behind it.

Santana sighed dramatically; it was easy to say she was being silly and it was only Brittany out there. But Brittany was her _everything _and it was a scary thought that she had everything to lose if she somehow stuffed this up. And it really was hard to stay focused on Brittany when her own body was acting up on her; trembling and heating up and tingling when she least expected it like it never had before. She was quite certain her heart rate hadn't completely relaxed since Brittany had tried to kiss her. She just didn't know how she was supposed to be feeling; everything was so new and confusing.

She'd never really thought about sex before and now it was all she could seem to think about where Brittany was concerned… which really was always.

She was heating up again just thinking about how Brittany's proximity was affecting her lately and she had to shift her legs apart because she felt uncomfortably hot down there most off all. The movement made her whimper and she whipped her head down to frown at the tight swimsuit bottoms hugging her hips. Her swimmers were still damp from the pool but they felt overly damp all of sudden where they covered her crotch. It was the same sort of awareness as when she knew she'd just got her monthly period because she could feel the wetness was coming from inside of her. But it was more than that familiar sensation which she often dreaded… this was so much more in an overwhelming sort of way. The more she thought about it she began to throb and realise how sensitive she was feeling, and the urge to investigate what was happening to her became too strong to ignore.

Still frowning, Santana slid her hand down the waistband of her swimmers and nearly fell over as her legs tried to give out at the feeling of her fingers running along her slit which had certainly never felt like this. She was warm and swollen and completely covered in a slick, gooey substance that covered her fingers and made her hand slide easily over herself.

Santana gasped and pulled her hand free to look at her fingers, almost fearful of what she would see. But it was just a harmless clear fluid which made her fingers shine in the light. She lifted her hand to her nose and took a tentative sniff, but was pleasantly surprised that it didn't smell bad at all. In fact it kind of reminded her of how Brittany smelled when she was…

Santana's eyes went wide as she realised what this was.

She was _aroused_.

She understood now; this kind of physical reaction was all completely natural for someone who wanted to have sex. She'd read all about it at school.

So that was what she was feeling…

_Aroused. Turned on. Horny._

Santana blushed just thinking about this same thing happening to Brittany. It was just like in her incredibly graphic dream- Brittany had been _soaked_ in that secret spot between her legs. The idea of Brittany's body reacting to her this way clutched at her stomach and made her feel like she wanted to touch herself again.

It had felt really good.

Her hand was already on its way back down her stomach when she snapped out of it.

What the hell was she thinking?

If she touched herself down there, she would be doing what was known as 'masturbation'… and with Brittany only on the other side of the door!

Completely embarrassed with herself, Santana put all thoughts of such things aside and hurriedly turned the shower on freezing cold, preparing to wash all remnants of her arousal away so she could focus clearly once more.

Brittany had already selected a movie to watch. It had come down to choosing between three of their most favourite light-hearted comedies. She wanted Santana to feel comfortable and wanted to avoid anything remotely suggestive. In the end, 'She's the Man' had won out and she'd already set it up ready to go as soon as Santana returned from her shower.

She was lying back on Santana's big comfy bed just staring at the menu screen while she waited. She had been concerned when the shower didn't turn on straight away- fearful that Santana's nerves had caused her to become sick, but the tell-tale groan of the pipes had eventually sounded followed by the sound of water falling.

Brittany turned her head to stare at the closed bathroom door. With the sound of the shower running and knowing that Santana was in there, she couldn't help thinking of her friend actually _in_ the shower. She hadn't really fantasized about Santana _sexually_ before- all of these feelings for her most beloved friend were incredibly new to her also. But she knew what Santana looked like naked… and she was familiar with how showers worked… so it wasn't very hard for her to mind to put the two together.

Brittany rubbed her thighs together as that same ache from last night returned between her legs, only this time proving far more demanding. She knew she was getting turned on thinking about Santana naked and dripping wet in the next room.

Brittany squeezed at the bedcovers by her sides as she squirmed some more, imagining herself in the shower with Santana and wishing she could touch her. She wanted to hug her just like they always did… but she wanted to be naked too so that she could feel Santana's damp skin pressed up against her own.

She wasn't exaggerating when she'd told Santana how hot she is and couldn't really believe that Santana didn't realise it herself. Brittany had actually noticed her heaps of times and just felt kind of proud that she had such an attractive best friend… but only now had the thought of Santana's body started affecting her like this. She wanted to touch Santana all over. And she wanted Santana to touch her back.

Brittany brought a hand up to squeeze her right breast trying to re-enact the feeling of Santana's hand on her. It didn't feel quite the same- it didn't send shivers through her body as that fleeting touch had- but is did feel good. She squeezed her breast insistently and whined when her hips bucked unexpectedly.

She realised what she was doing but didn't want to stop- it just felt too nice. She bit her lip and glanced at the bathroom door as though weighing up her options. She could stop what she was doing and put it out of her mind, content just to wait until Santana was finished … or she could keep going, keep touching herself, spurred on by the thought of Santana in the shower.

She didn't want to stop.

And besides she would hear the shower turn off before Santana came out so there was no chance that Santana would catch her in the act.

Brittany smiled at the tremble that shook her body at the thought of Santana seeing her touching herself. She thought she would feel embarrassed if someone caught her masturbating but for some reason the idea of Santana watching her only turned her on more.

She pushed her hand under the triangle of material covering her and gasped when she brushed the hard pebble that was her nipple.

Her nipple was so sensitive when it was tight and hard like this.

Why hadn't she ever done this before?

She played with her nipple for a little longer until she realised she was breathing pretty deeply and her hips were now rocking up off the bed like they had a mind of their own. The mounting heat between her legs was calling to her as she ached in an unbearably pleasant way.

Brittany glanced at the bathroom door once again in indecision. Playing with her breasts was one thing but if she touched herself _down there_ then this would all become very real. She would be _masturbating_ while thinking about Santana who was only in the next room.

She wanted to feel ashamed for taking advantage of an unknowing Santana in this way but she couldn't ignore the overpowering urge to touch herself. Her swimmers were ridiculously wet in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with her recent swim. She knew that was a normal reaction; it was supposed to happen… but it had never happened before and she wanted to know what it felt like to touch.

Taking a moment to make sure she could actually still hear the water running and she wasn't imagining it- since her pulse was pounding loudly in her ears by this point- Brittany continued nibbling on her lower lip as she tentatively pressed her palm against her swimsuit clad crotch.

Her hips bucked into her hand in response and she cried out in surprise at how soft and sensitive she felt through the wet material.

She froze to make sure Santana hadn't heard her and wasn't going to come bursting out to see if she was okay but it was hard to keep her hand still now that she was finally touching the part of her that needed attention the most.

Just the idea of Santana bursting out all naked and glorious was enough to make Brittany start moving her hand, rubbing back and forth over her crotch as her hips rocked up into her touch.

She was smiling and sighing at the sensations building up in her body as her rubbing got more insistent but it wasn't until she slipped her hand inside the swimmers that she really got the full effect of her caressing. She started whimpering and squeezed her eyes tightly shut as her fingers slipped clumsily up and down her slit.

She had only just discovered the incredibly sensitive nub at the top which had to be her clitoris when the shower suddenly shut off and reality crashed down over her. Her eyes snapped open and she spared a very quick glance down her body, blushing madly at the sight of her bikini top in disarray and her hand buried in her swim bottoms between spread legs. Pulling her hand free Brittany hurriedly rearranged herself, trying not to be completely obvious about what she'd just been doing. She sat up against the pillows and willed her heart beat to calm down.

Santana cursed as she realised that in her haste to enter the bathroom she hadn't grabbed any change of clothes and there was no way she was putting her swimmers back on especially when she knew the state the bottoms were in. She wrapped a towel around herself and stood by the door preparing to go back out there.

The cold shower had helped; it had been horrible and had completely washed away the tightness she'd felt between her legs. But she still felt nervous about returning to her room- to Brittany. Especially now that all she was wearing was a towel and it would look really obvious if she avoided getting changed in front of the blonde after she'd been doing so all her life.

With a deep breath Santana reached for the doorknob and pulled it open. She stepped into her room and immediately greeted Brittany with a casual smile.

Brittany was lying up against the pillows still in her swimsuit but looking incredibly nervous like she was afraid of being busted for something.

Santana cocked a curious eyebrow and she walked further into the room, taking note of Brittany's flushed skin and the way the blonde didn't quite meet her eyes.

And then it hit her;

Santana froze as the scent of Brittany's arousal firmly hit her as though she'd just walked into a brick wall. She stared at Brittany with wide eyes.

"Not sticky anymore?" Brittany squeaked out awkwardly.

Santana groaned quietly to herself as she felt the tingle starting between her legs at just knowing Brittany was turned on and undoubtedly lying there feeling it between her legs. She clutched the towel tighter to herself and tried to remember where it was she kept her clothes but Brittany's scent was so overpowering that it kept on distracting her.

The stickiness she thought she felt earlier had nothing on this.

Brittany fidgeted self-consciously under Santana's scrutiny. Santana wasn't looking at her like she usually did- there was a dark hunger in her eyes which made Brittany feel like Santana knew exactly what she'd been doing while she was in the shower.

That look excited Brittany even more.

She remembered that Santana had detected her arousal last night and she blushed even harder realising Santana could probably smell it on her right now.

Had the brunette realised what that change in her scent meant? Is that why she was looking at her like that?

Brittany felt naked all of a sudden and remembered she wasn't far off. And then there was Santana standing at the end of the bed with only a towel shielding her nakedness. She scratched at her bare stomach just to do something with her hands as she tried to ignore what the sight of Santana in a towel was doing to the already uncomfortable throb in her core.

Santana watched Brittany's fingernails scratch at her milky skin but had to shake her head clear before she jumped on the bed and tried to soothingly rub away the pink tracks they left in their wake.

Constantly aware of Brittany's arousal calling to her with a pull that she would associate with a Siren's call, Santana forced herself over to her closet and found a change of clothes. She turned her back on Brittany and dropped her towel before hurriedly pulling on a bra and underwear and then some comfy tracksuit pants and shirt. She could feel Brittany's eyes on her the entire time and they burned into her skin in a way they never had before.

Brittany squeezed the bedcovers beneath her tighter when Santana unexpectedly dropped her towel and she was able to watch her change. She knew she was staring but she couldn't tear her eyes away even if she tried.

Did Santana understand the effect she was having on her?

Feeling no more covered in her comfy clothes than she had in her bikini, Santana forced the casual smile back to her face and nodded her head at the television screen as she turned back around to face Brittany.

"She's the Man?" Santana questioned even though it was obvious by the disc menu playing on loop ready to start.

"Is that okay?" Brittany asked shyly as she became aware of the tension in the room. Santana was standing so far away from her and she needed her closer to feel comfortable again.

"Yeah of course," Santana answered as her eyes darted away awkwardly and she rubbed her now sweaty palms on her pants. Brittany's scent was so hard to ignore- she wanted to wrap her arms around her and breathe her in. Her core ached by just thinking about it.

"Why are you standing all the way over there?" Brittany asked cutely.

Santana just shrugged; she didn't really have an answer she felt like sharing.

Brittany giggled and wriggled on the bed making herself more comfortable as she patted the space beside her.

"Come lay down here. You promised me a hug remember," Brittany tried to keep her voice even and calm as excited nerves threatened to take over. Even if nothing _happened_ between them over the course of the movie, she just wanted to have Santana in her arms as close as possible.

Santana hesitated before shaking her head at herself once again and stumbling forward. Instead of taking her time gradually moving towards Brittany she bit the bullet and moved to lie flat on her back directly beside her.

Brittany giggled again at how stiff and awkward Santana was acting. She rolled on her side so that her entire body was pressed to Santana's side and let her body mould into Santana's familiar curves.

"Hey, it okay, just relax," Brittany hummed gently as she reached to push a strand of wet hair away from Santana's face.

Santana watched frozen as Brittany's soft fingers moved over her face and while the scent of Brittany was already surrounding her and clouding her senses, the hand moving over her face seemed to smell distinctly of the scent that was threatening to overwhelm her.

Santana caught up Brittany's hand in her own and brought it to her nose. She took a whiff and groaned as her mouth began to water at the confirmed aroma.

Her eyes fluttered and she looked to Brittany, moving the hand away from her face before it made her do _something_ even she wasn't prepared for.

Brittany watched the expressions flash across Santana's face and she gasped when Santana turned to her and gave her that dark hungry stare from earlier. Except now up close, Santana looked a little curious too.

"San, what is it?" Brittany asked softly.

Santana squeezed Brittany's hand in hers where she still held it and blinked her eyes as she tried to find her bearings. Brittany and her damn intoxicating scent made her feel like she kept losing herself. She imagined this was what being drugged felt like. She glanced down Brittany's body to the skimpy bottoms barely covering the area between her legs and knew that was where the scent was coming from. The scent was _Brittany_ but the raw source was between the blonde's thighs.

She glanced back to the hand in hers as she frowned trying to work out why Brittany's hand smelled so distinctly of the tell-tale scent when the rest of Brittany just kind of permeated it.

"San?"

And then she understood.

"You've been touching yourself," Santana stated knowingly, still a little zoned out.

Brittany blushed brightly and snatched her hand free.

"H-how did you know?" Brittany squeaked in a mortified tone.

Santana giggled to herself making Brittany pout.

But then Santana's mind caught up to her body and she stopped laughing, realising what had just been exposed; Brittany had been lying here on **her** bed, touching herself while she had been in the shower.

"Oh wow, you were _touching_ yourself," Santana repeated as she rolled away from Brittany to stand by the side of the bed and gather her thoughts.

Brittany frowned at Santana's unexpected reaction.

"It's really not that uncommon," Brittany mumbled defensively.

Santana shook her head not wanting Brittany to think she was disgusted with her or anything like that at all. She was actually already blushing at the visual in her head of how Brittany must have looked doing it.

"No it's not that, it's fine really," Santana stammered awkwardly.

"Then what's wrong?" Brittany pressed still sporting an unimpressed pout.

Santana bit her lip trying to figure out what was wrong exactly.

"It's just… this is all happening really fast," Santana admitted honestly.

If Brittany was touching herself _there_ then she'd probably be expecting Santana to touch her there too and Santana wasn't sure she was ready for the pressure of doing _that_ just yet. She didn't have a clue what she was doing- what if she was really bad at it? She wouldn't be able to live with disappointing Brittany. What if her inexperience completely turned Brittany off of her? Then she'd be stuck constantly feeling this way and wouldn't be able to do anything about it because Brittany wouldn't want her.

"It doesn't have to…" Brittany tried as she sat up and implored for Santana to just come back.

Santana shook her head as she got more and more intimidated by her nerves.

"I'm sorry Britt, I can't…"

Just the idea of kissing Brittany was stressful enough right now without adding the worry about anything else. Santana rocked on the balls of her feet unsure of what to do now that she'd made her decision to stall once again.

Brittany huffed in frustration as she threw her hands up in the air and fell back to the bed. She couldn't help thinking that this felt awfully like rejection.

_Again_.

"Then where are you going?" Brittany asked indifferently as she covered her eyes with her hands and told herself she wasn't going to cry.

Santana looked around her room feeling lost. She spied a pair of joggers by the door and was struck with an idea.

"I'm going for a run," Santana answered.

A good long run would clear her head and allow her to focus in the way a cold shower never could. Her main priority was always to keep Brittany happy but if her own fears were going to keep her from doing that then she had to find a way to exhaust them so she could focus on doing what she was born to do.

Nodding decisively to herself she picked up the shoes and slowly backed out of the room, leaving Brittany who looked like she would prefer a little time to herself any way.

She would be back.

...


	10. Chapter 10

Santana had been running for hours but only because she was an avid runner and it look a lot longer to tire her out than the average person. As the sun began to set she knew she shouldn't avoid Brittany for any longer and had started heading in the direction that would finally take her back to her house.

She felt calm and focused now- not that she'd really spent the last few hours even thinking about her current predicament- the purpose of her run had been to clear her head and not think about anything at all. So now that she was feeling very level-headed with endorphins pumping through her, actually making her feel much more confident about herself, Santana allowed her thoughts to return to her and Brittany and what was very likely to occur between the two of them later that evening if they let it.

Santana understood now that she just had to tell Brittany what she was feeling instead of keeping her fears to herself. She actually promised herself that she would not run from her again; she would stick it out from here on in. Brittany was an understanding individual and if she loved Santana as much as Santana hoped she did then she would be willing to listen to her concerns and then they would be able to work through these new frightening times together.

The most important thing to remember was that she loved Brittany unconditionally and their bond was something that people spent their entire life searching for, with some never finding it. She didn't have to look for the person she wanted to spend the rest of her life with, she'd already had her by her side for twelve long years with her devotion never fading one bit. In fact with the urges that had been surging within her today she felt like her affection for Brittany was still growing if that were even possible. It excited her that becoming sexually intimate with Brittany may bring them even closer still.

No matter what the unforseen future held for them, Santana would spend her life giving Brittany exactly what she needed. And while Brittany now needed her in a way she never had before, it didn't mean Santana wasn't able to give it to her… the challenge was simply for her to find the means to do so. Their entire relationship was about growth and change. In just the past twenty-four hours things between them had definitely changed… now it was just a matter of Santana growing up in order to deal with it.

With aching limbs Santana turned the last corner and slowed her stride as she jogged up her street closing in on her big house. By the time she was arriving at the front steps she had slowed to a walk and could open the front door and enter like a civilised person.

Wiping a sweaty strand of hair away from her face, Santana was actually reminded of Brittany performing the same gesture hours earlier in her room. She grinned at the thought of Brittany waiting for her and was actually struck with a whimsical daydream where she surprised a napping Brittany with a gentle kiss just like in those princess cartoons they'd grown up watching together. Santana knew she probably wouldn't have the guts to do such a thing but still the idea of it made her stomach flutter excitedly. It was actually an encouraging thought that she was now craving Brittany's company when earlier she'd felt it was necessary to enforce some distance between them.

But Brittany wasn't asleep when she entered her room- in fact Brittany wasn't even there.

Santana frowned in disappointment and then went looking for her phone, hoping there would be a message from Brittany telling her where she'd gone. Santana chastised herself for being gone so long and for not taking her phone with her since that would have been Brittany's only means of contacting her. She eventually found it on her bedside table but was concerned to see that there were no new messages waiting for her.

Santana had a sinking feeling in her gut as she wondered why Brittany hadn't tried to let her know where she had gone. It wasn't like Santana had to know where she was at any given moment but from the amount of time they genuinely chose to spend together it had just become a habit to fill the other in if their plans kept them apart. As far as Santana knew there was nothing on tonight- her and Brittany were just going to laze about and eventually head back to spend the night at the Pierce's as usual- well that was before fooling around became a potential activity for them.

She tried to remember if Brittany was upset with her- she'd seemed frustrated more so and perhaps a little annoyed, but Santana didn't think Brittany would have intentionally not told her where she'd disappeared to, knowing Santana would return to an empty room and automatically worry.

On second thoughts perhaps that was exactly what Brittany had done.

Santana pouted and immediately called Brittany. She would be able to tell from the tone of the Brittany's voice if she was in the dog house and had to find a way to make amends.

Brittany didn't answer and Santana didn't bother leaving a voicemail. Instead she hung up and tried texting the blonde.

**'Hey B, just got back from my run. Where are you?'**

Santana stood on the spot in her sweat drenched clothes while she waited for Brittany's reply. Usually the blonde was efficient with her texts especially when it was Santana on the other end. When no reply came Santana quickly typed out an addition message hoping it would quirk Brittany's interest enough to reply…

**'I was really hoping you'd be here when I got back...'**

Santana tried to exercise patience and placed her phone on her bed before calmly picking up her still discarded towel from earlier and taking it with her to the bathroom. She would coolly take a shower and when she was done there would be a message waiting from her with Brittany sincerely apologising for forgetting to let her know she'd returned home, with no hard feelings and a desperate urge for Santana to come join her as soon as she could.

Santana may have rushed the showering part a bit, jumping out the moment she was satisfactorily clean just so she could rush out to her bed and check her phone. She didn't even bother with a towel.

She gave a frustrated whine when there was still no reply from Brittany.

Quickly pulling on some clothes, Santana tapped out her final message as she grabbed her car keys and headed out once again.

**'I'm just worried about you. Please let me know you're okay.'**

Santana figured that Brittany was either purposely ignoring her- or in a scenario that she greatly preferred- had simply fallen asleep and couldn't hear her phone going off. Either way she should be back at her house which was where Santana was headed.

Santana drove to the Pierce household in record timing and was knocking urgently at the front door. It was dark out now and Brittany still hadn't replied.

Mrs Pierce answered the door with a look of concern which turned to relief at recognising it was only Santana. She knew Santana had her own key so she was a little confused as to why her pseudo daughter was demanding entrance like this but she opened the door wide in welcome anyway.

"Santana," Mrs Pierce stated before looking over Santana's shoulder with interest. "Where's Brittany?"

Santana's face fell at those words.

"You mean she's not here?" Santana asked with alarm filling her voice.

Mrs Pierce frowned back at her and shook her head while quickly pulling Santana inside to sit her down and make sure she took deep breaths. Santana looked as though she was about to faint at learning Brittany wasn't home.

"I'm sure she's fine honey," Mrs Pierce said soothingly as she patted Santana on the back. "You know how Britt is, always with her head in the clouds."

"Yeah but normally I'd have a kite string tied to her ankle so she can't float away," Santana groaned figuratively as she buried her face in her hands; she'd lost Brittany.

Mrs Pierce tried to smother her laughter and started rubbing Santana's back gently.

"Are you two still fighting?" She asked tactfully.

Santana lifted her head and gave Mrs Pierce a guilty look.

"Did she tell you?" Santana whined regrettably.

"She didn't have to," Mrs Pierce answered with a warm smile. "Both of you were miserable when you left the house today."

Santana nodded not being able to deny Mrs Pierce's claims.

"We're not fighting about that anymore," Santana answered but then frowned when she realised that wasn't entirely true; their stances may have changed but the issue was still the same. "I thought we were okay but now I'm not so sure… she's not answering my calls."

"Maybe she's trying to teach you a lesson by ignoring you?" Mrs Pierce suggested gently. "Isn't that how teenagers handle their lovers' tiffs these days?"

"_Lovers_?" Santana's voice squeaked nervously.

Mrs Pierce quirked an amused smile at Santana's play for ignorance not realising it was genuine.

"No Mrs P," Santana jumped up and waved her hands around frantically. "Brittany and I aren't like that. Honest"

"Brittany and you aren't like _what_?"

Mr Pierce entered the hall with an intrigued arch to his eyebrow as he came to investigate who was at the door, only to find his wife and Santana in the midst of conversation.

Santana shut up and looked at the floor as her cheeks heated. She really did not want to be sharing the intimate details of her and Brittany's evolving relationship with the blonde's parents.

"Apparently Brittany and Santana's relationship is not as it seems," Mrs Pierce goaded playfully.

"We're not _together_ together, I mean we might be soon, well I thought so- I thought that's what she wanted, but now I don't know what's happening," Santana stammered out nervously.

Mr and Mrs Pierce shared a knowing smile over Santana's head.

Mr Pierce placed a strong hand on Santana's shoulder and squeezed.

"It's okay sweetie," He reassured.

Santana hesitantly looked up and glanced back and forth between Brittany's parents who were smiling down at her without any sign of malice.

"Whatever the nature of your relationship, we know there's no one in the world who cares for our little princess more than you. We just want her to be happy… and we know that her single source of happiness for the past twelve years has been in knowing you. I don't see how the future could be any different," Mr Pierce told her as he took his wife's hand.

If Santana was already feeling confident in her approach to being with Brittany before, then the Pierce's blessing just emboldened her all the more. With an ecstatic grin on her face she hugged Mr Pierce and then Mrs Pierce in turn. It was such a relief to know she had their full support.

"So it's okay if I start dating your daughter?" Santana asked just to be sure she was hearing them correctly. If things were going to change between herself and Brittany she wanted to make sure she was treating her right.

"Oh honey, we put that lock on Brittany's door a long time ago to save us from walking in on anything a parent shouldn't have to see. Just make sure you use it," Mrs Pierce encouraged.

Santana flushed again as she realised what Mrs Pierce was insinuating and realised that was both of their parents now who had already assumed ages ago that something was already happening between the two.

"Right," Santana nodded shyly. "But first I have to find her. Not that we're going to do _that_ right away or anything, I mean we have to talk first. And even then I don't think it means we're going to necessarily _do_ anything… but I know she wants to so… "

Santana was babbling again and realised she really had to stop talking before she said anything she would regret. Or at least anything _else _she would regret.

Mr Pierce was already frowning at her though but not for that reason.

"You mean Brittany's not with you?" He asked in confusion.

Santana shook her head.

"She was home earlier and said she was going out- I just assumed it would be with you," He explained with a shrug.

Santana was relieved to hear that Brittany had been home but was once again confused by the fact that she'd still gone out and not told Santana where she was going.

Mr and Mrs Pierce watched her curiously, not entirely sure how she was going to react to the news.

"She probably just needs some space," Santana suggested softly as she tried not to feel too hurt by the blonde's dodging of her. She herself had been running from the blonde all day so it was only fair that Brittany take some time for herself eventually. "I think I'll just go up and wait for her in her room."

Santana started walking towards the staircase knowing that as much as she wanted to drive circles around their small town until she found Brittany, she really had to give her some space and simply wait for her to come back. It was the respectable thing to do.

"Thanks again Mr and Mrs P," Santana mumbled as she trudged up the stairs with her head downcast. It was definitely a mood kill to know that Brittany was avoiding her.

Santana entered Brittany's dark bedroom and lay down on her bed, staring up at the shadowy ceiling. She closed her eyes and tried a few calming exercises as she prepared to lay there until Brittany returned home. She wasn't sure how much time had passed when she decided to glance at her phone already knowing that no message had come though.

She hated not knowing what was going on and tried her chances at calling the blonde once more, nearly jumping off the bed when Brittany's phone started to ring loudly from somewhere in the room. Santana quickly switched on the light and searched for the source of the ringing tone, eventually finding it under the bed where it could have easily fallen.

As Santana clutched the device to her chest she was torn between feeling relieved because maybe Brittany wasn't ignoring her after all- she just didn't have her phone on her… and of course feeling terribly worried because it was late and Brittany was out without her phone. What if Brittany needed her and had no way of contacting her?

Santana looked at the phone and saw that Brittany had three new messages and two miscalls. A quick check of her inbox confirmed that the three unopened messages were from her which meant that Brittany had never received her attempts to make contact. Which meant Brittany was out there doing who knows what and probably thinking that Santana didn't even care.

Santana's heart clenched at the thought and she was about to lock Brittany's phone once more and take up her search when she noticed that there were two received messages from Puck listed before her unopened ones. They were time stamped from earlier that day and Santana hastened to open them, needing to know what they said despite knowing she was actively snooping into Brittany's business. What was Brittany's business was Santana's business; it has always been that way.

**'Hey bb, u ran from da partii prty fast lastnite. Wat u say I pik u up 2nite n we fin wat we strtd?'**

Santana's blood began to boil as she closed the first message and moved on to the second not wanting to believe that Brittany would have actually gone out with that douchebag;

**'Dats my grl, pik u up 6'**

Santana's heart sank and she quickly locked the phone, not wanting to read what Brittany had replied in between to accept his invitation. She clearly had done so which would explain her mysterious absence. But Santana didn't want to believe it- not after everything that had happened between the two of them today- not after all the progress that had been made.

She frowned as she realised that not all that much progress had really been made after all… not with all of Santana's stalling.

She had to find Brittany and apologise… and get her away from the likes of Puck before it was too late.

Santana really hoped it wasn't too late.

She ran from Brittany's bedroom, calling out to the Pierce's that she knew where Brittany was as she bounded down the stairs three at a time, and left the house headed straight for her car.

She was just about to pull away from the curb when she was startled by her phone ringing in her side pocket and she slowly reached for it knowing that no one ever called her- no one but Brittany… and she had Brittany's phone tucked safely in her other pocket.

"Hello?" Santana asked curiously as she answered the unfamiliar number.

_'Santana? It's me- Tommy'_

"Tommy? You have my number? How come I don't have your number?" Santana frowned quizzically. Did she really only have Brittany's number in her phone? Well that was just silly.

_'Doesn't matter, look you've got to come home quick. Brittany just got dropped off here and she seems really upset.'_

"Is she okay?" Santana's voice quivered emotionally. "Who dropped her off?"

_'I didn't see, I just heard the car speed off and when I looked out she was out crying on the doorstep. She didn't want me to tell you… but you're my sister, ya know…'_

"I'll be straight over," Santana told him as she hung up and accelerated down the street not knowing what to think and hoping Brittany would just stay put until she got there.

...


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N: So after the range of reviews I got after last chapter, I thought it important to point out the updated summary of this story which tells you that this story only takes place over one weekend and seeing as it's Saturday night in this chapter that means there's only the events of Sunday to go. So for those of you who feel that this story is starting to drag too much, I'm sorry you feel that way but please hang in there and see it through for the final chapters. This story is meant to be a roller coaster- it's all about the "push and pull" and about showing how these two finally get together. And I promise that when they finally do, I'll give you every smutty detail of how it all goes down. But for now, enjoy the latest installant- and please note the lack of cliffhanger as i tried to give you a nice well-rounded chapter this time around._

* * *

><p>Tommy was there to open the door when Santana pulled into the Lopez driveway. She ran from the car as soon as the engine stopped and passed by Tommy with only a momentary glance, far too preoccupied with getting to Brittany to stop and chat. But Tommy had other plans and caught her elbow as she breezed by, tugging her back and holding her in place.<p>

Santana scowled at Tommy, not understanding why he was stopping her but he just held on firmly while he gave her a hard, challenging stare.

"She's a teenager. Teenagers make mistakes," Tommy reminded her seriously.

Santana didn't want to think too much about what Tommy's words meant. She thought he was trying to tell her to be compassionate but the words just made her all the more nervous about what was about to unfold.

"I don't care what she did, I just want to see her," Santana spat back icily.

Tommy's calculating stare held her eyes for a moment longer before he seemed satisfied with what he saw and nodded as he released her.

Santana didn't wait around to see if he would say anything else; she spun on her heel and ran through the house, climbing up the staircase in bounds and stopping only momentarily when she was finally standing outside her closed bedroom door.

Santana held her breath and listened hard but she couldn't hear anything on the other side. She didn't want to walk through that door and see Brittany crying; there had been too many tears shed already over the past couple of days. Tears that Santana's heart soaked up like a sponge and left it feeling heavy in her chest. But Tommy had said Brittany had been upset, so Santana prepared herself for the worst and made sure her heart was ready to soak up whatever it took to see Brittany's smiling face again.

Santana pushed the door open and peered inside. There were no lights on and the window curtains were drawn, so the only light in the room was what spilled in through the open door along with her. Santana could make out Brittany's form lying still on her bed and immediately moved towards her. Brittany was facing the other way with her back to the door as she lay under the covers with only her head and shoulders uncovered. Santana slid onto the bed behind her and curled around the shape the blankets made around Brittany's body. She kissed at Brittany's shoulder and pressed her face into Brittany's hair, trying her hardest to ignore the foreign stench that clung to her just trying to mar her perfection.

She waited like that, holding Brittany securely in her arms so that the blonde knew she was there and wasn't planning on going anywhere. But the silence stretched on and Santana knew she had to let Brittany know that she knew where she'd been.

"I can smell him on you again," Santana told Brittany softly. Her statement was not judgemental; she was merely putting the information out in the open. There was no point in hiding what she already knew.

Brittany began to sob and Santana just held on to her tighter. Silent tears fell from Santana's eyes as she cried for Brittany's inner anguish. And for the first time in a long time Santana cried for herself; for the opportunity she feared she'd missed.

"I don't want to talk about it," Brittany pleaded hoarsely as she freed her arms from the covers to clutch at Santana's arm and keep it around her.

Santana snuggled closer using her free hand to gently brush her fingers through Brittany's hair.

"Then we won't talk about it…" Santana agreed as she stared at the back of Brittany's head.

But the silence that stretched afterwards was too much for Santana to handle as worry clenched at her insides.

"But if we _were_ to talk about it then it would just be for you to tell me if he hurt you…" Santana suggested airily.

When Brittany didn't respond, Santana continued;

"Because if he did then I'd have to find time out of my very demanding snuggle schedule to go kick his arse…"

Brittany gave a small shudder- which Santana deduced to be an impulsive laugh that Brittany couldn't contain despite obviously not feeling very merry. It was an encouraging sign.

Santana poked Brittany in the shoulder teasingly… nudging her for an answer.

Brittany shook her head emphatically.

"Aww really?" Santana baited playfully as she raised herself up off the bed to perch her chin on Brittany's shoulder and look down on her imploringly. "Damn. I think I would have enjoyed the arse kicking part."

Brittany didn't laugh again as Santana hoped she would.

"I am glad that you're okay though…" Santana tried again, trailing her statement off to sound like a question fully knowing that Brittany clearly wasn't 'okay'.

Brittany pulled free of the tight embrace only to turn over and look at Santana.

"No, he didn't hurt me," Brittany insisted sombrely.

"Okay then," Santana agreed softly.

Santana moved closer once more so their foreheads were pressed and the tips of their noses were touching. Then she closed her eyes because she could feel Brittany still looking at her, silently scrutinising every minute detail of her face at close range and she didn't think Brittany would keep doing it if she looked back at her.

"I'm sorry," Brittany whispered with a thick, pained voice.

Santana squeezed her eyes shut even tighter, not wanting to cry in front of Brittany and show her how hopeless the situation felt. She didn't know why Brittany was apologising and she wasn't sure she wanted to… but Brittany sounded like she needed to say it.

"I just- I wanted to feel _wanted_," Brittany stated.

Santana frowned but kept her eyes closed wanting Brittany to continue. She didn't understand because she knew that she wanted Brittany. She had never stopped wanting Brittany.

"And you kept running away and I wasn't listening to what you were telling me because I was only thinking about what I wanted," Brittany continued in a rush of emotion. "You told me that you were worried that your imprinting was going to force me into situations against my will… but I realise now that it's me who's doing the forcing."

Santana was stunned and shook her head at Brittany as she opened her mouth to tell her that she was wrong, but Brittany was already continuing.

"I wasn't listening to you when you were trying to tell me you didn't want us to be like that. And it really sucks you know-" Brittany's voice began to crack with desperation. "Because you are so, so perfect. And I'll never find anyone else who I'll want to be around as much as I do you. And it's just a really cruel twist of fate that I would get all of these new, incredible feelings for you when you can't return them."

"No, no Brittany, listen to me… I do-" Santana hushed her as she began to stroke her cheek, trying to brush the tears away.

Santana opened her eyes to look at Brittany but Brittany only shook her head and snapped her eyes shut.

"I don't want you to pretend anymore; I don't want you to have to force yourself into this because it's what I want," Brittany cried shaking her head. "So I went with Puck because he made it clear that he wanted me… _like_ _that_."

Santana stopped trying to console Brittany as she anxiously waited for Brittany to _explain_, not knowing what to think.

"I just thought that if I got it out of my system that everything would go back to being normal again, and we could go back to being the way we used to be," Brittany tried to clarify her motives. "So you would be comfortable with me again."

Santana held her breathe trying to figure out if Brittany was saying what she thought she was saying. She didn't want to think about Puck touching Brittany in the ways she had only dreamt about. Brittany was _hers_; no one else would ever love her as much as she did…

But Brittany wasn't talking about love; she was talking about sex.

Sex with Puck.

Santana pulled her hand back from Brittany's face and curled it around herself. She was disappointed… and while in her eyes Brittany could never do anything wrong, to her this felt wrong and she didn't know what to say or do to make the feeling go away.

Brittany's eyes snapped open in panic as she lunged forward to cling to Santana desperately.

"But I couldn't do it," Brittany rushed as she held Santana's eyes and shook her head. "I couldn't."

Santana let Brittany's admission seep into her and she realised she was smiling.

But Brittany still looked sad and guilty.

"I couldn't go through with it. He started kissing me and **everything** just felt so wrong," Brittany revealed as her eyes flicked away to the side. "It felt wrong because he wasn't **you**."

Santana's joy filled her up and just as she was about to explode with the feeling she pushed forward without even thinking about it and pressed her lips against Brittany's.

Brittany's eyes snapped back to Santana's in surprise and when Santana pulled away again she was left gaping at her.

Brittany's shock was reflected on Santana's face because she had surprised herself at the forward gesture. She'd just kissed Brittany… and while she knew that it wasn't much more than a forceful mash of their lips, she was still proud of herself for initiating it.

Brittany's eyes flicked away though, as her face took on a look of regret.

"You don't have to do that," Brittany murmured sadly. "Don't do it for me."

So Santana did it again.

She cupped Brittany's cheek and gently guided Brittany's lips up to meet hers. This kiss was much softer and Santana could feel Brittany's lips trembling beneath her own. Brittany's eyes were wide and skittish as she watched Santana do it.

"San, stop it please," Brittany whispered with pained eyes as she pulled away.

But Santana held on tight, stroking her hand over Brittany's cheek and keeping Brittany's eyes on her.

"I'm doing it for me," Santana murmured surely, "For **us**."

"San?" Brittany was still doubtful.

"Listen to me Britt," Santana entreated. "I want you. I want you just the way you want me… I've just been an idiot and a coward and a whole bunch of other things. I was just confused because this was all happening so fast and I could barely keep up."

"So you do want me?" Brittany asked for clarification in a small, timid voice.

"Of course I do!" Santana confirmed as she started to laugh. How could Brittany ever question such a thing?

"No I mean like this," Brittany asked as she wrapped an arm around Santana's body and pulled her impossibly close. She sounded hopeful, "Like lovers?"

Santana's face heated and she could tell even in the darkness that Brittany was blushing shyly too. She nodded.

"I want that Brittany but I've just been so… _scared_, because I don't know the first thing about this stuff. And I was worried I'd disappoint you," Santana admitted as she finally shared her insecurity.

But Brittany only laughed as an ecstatic smile took over her face.

"Oh San," Brittany smiled warmly, "Don't you realise I haven't got a clue what I'm doing either? I could just as easily disappoint you."

Santana scoffed loudly;

"Are you kidding me? Even the smell of you drives me crazy!"

Brittany pushed her away playfully as she was seized by embarrassment but Santana only laughed and caught up her hands in her own.

"You're my soul mate Brittany," Santana told her passionately as she squeezed Brittany's hands. "I didn't realise it at the time because I was so young, but I obviously couldn't help imprinting on you the moment I met you because I saw that you were everything I could ever want in a mate. And I have spent every day of our lives together trying to be worthy of you just so you'll keep me around…"

Brittany smiled and playfully rolled her eyes at Santana's sappiness.

"No, I mean it," Santana urged as she began to chuckle along with her. "I'm just trying to tell you that the _imprinting_ doesn't make me do the things I do. The way I see it, my imprinting on you was just a really fancy way of calling dibs…"

Brittany giggled and Santana smiled at her enjoyment.

"Seriously! I saw you and I just had to have you then and there- even though no one has ever imprinted at such a young age before and no one even knew that it was possible…" Santana insisted animatedly.

"Against all odds huh?" Brittany joined in, egging her on.

"Uh huh," Santana nodded. "And I get that now. My imprinting- it bonds me to you but it doesn't guarantee anything for certain. I'm still responsible for every word and every touch that I give. The love I feel for you is still my own and mine to give… but the bond we share, it just serves as a reminder that you're the only one I'm ever going to want to give it to. And it reminds me of the honour I've been given by having the opportunity to know you."

Brittany was dumbfounded and by the look of it so was Santana. Neither of them knew where that speech had come from. Santana had her moments from time to time where she would gush about Brittany and whisper sweet nothings into her ear but they were usually always in jest and laid on thickly to cheer Brittany up and make her laugh after she'd had a bad day.

"Wow," Brittany murmured in awe. "I guess I look pretty silly for doubting us now."

Santana shrugged; she could only try and always be perfect for Brittany but it didn't mean that Brittany would always want her.

Except that Brittany did want her and believed that she always would.

"I'm going to kiss you now," Brittany informed her, giggling happily.

"Okay," Santana gushed as her eyes lit up and she nodded eagerly with a face splitting grin.

Santana watched as Brittany advanced this time and her anticipation made her heart start racing because she remembered that Brittany knew how proper kissing was done and she clearly didn't care that Santana didn't.

But Brittany stopped with a look of panic as she whacked herself on the forehead much to Santana's dismay.

"Puck," Brittany stated in explanation. "I have to wash Puck off me first!"

Santana smiled in amusement and tried to grab at Brittany to stay put but the blonde was too quick for her as she jumped from the bed and darted into the bathroom.

"Brittany come back I don't care," Santana beseeched as she rolled onto her side and watched Brittany frantically start brushing her teeth. Secretly she was thankful because she really didn't want to be thinking about Puck any more than she had to when she had the chance to purely be with Brittany.

Brittany was smiling at her in the mirror around a mouthful of toothpaste when there was a knock at her door and Santana looked over to see Tommy standing there.

"Hey Tana, can you come talk to me for a sec," Tommy asked politely.

"Really Tommy? _Now?"_ Santana groaned unbelievably. Santana's eyes flicked to Brittany who was now standing in the doorway to the bathroom, still cleaning her teeth but looking on curiously.

"It's important," Tommy urged.

Santana rolled her eyes because she really doubted that whatever Tommy had to say was anywhere near as important as what was about to go down with Brittany. But Tommy didn't even wait for her to agree he just walked away from the door with an insistent wave that she should follow.

Santana groaned again in disapproval as she walked towards Brittany and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll be right back," She promised.

Tommy was standing at the top of the stairs when Santana stepped out into the hall and when she saw him he turned and started walking down.

"Hey," Santana hissed after her brother. "I thought you wanted to talk?"

"This way," He called back.

Santana followed Tommy as he led her through their family home.

"This isn't funny Tommy! You could not have interrupted at a worse time," Santana informed him.

Tommy stopped when they were standing at the entrance to the laundry and stepped aside for Santana to see. Rebekah was inside kneeling over an exhausted looking Mama the dog while Rebekah cried and patted her head. Rebekah's hands were splotched with blood as were the towels around Mama. There were also four tiny immobile puppies.

"There must have been a complication," Tommy hastened to explain as his voice quivered. "I didn't even know she was in labour until I heard her whimpering. The pups are all still-born."

An incredible sadness washed over Santana as she took in the sight.

"What about Mama?" Santana entreated as she watched the pet they never wanted but had a soft spot for any way as she lay on the floor.

"Beka thinks she'll be okay, she's just exhausted," Tommy said. "She's been through quite an ordeal."

Santana nodded, remembering that Rebekah was studying to be a nurse or vet or something- something that meant she knew more on the subject than the rest of them.

"Santana what's wrong?" Brittany called from over Santana's shoulder. She'd come to investigate when she'd finished freshening up and found that Santana still hadn't returned.

Santana spun and held up her hands, begging Brittany not to come any closer. She knew such a sight would absolutely crush Brittany who adored animals. But Brittany persisted and pushed past Santana. She gasped in horror when she saw what had happened and rushed to crouch at Rebekah's side. She was already crying when she started picking up the puppies one by one already sensing that there was something wrong with them. She rocked each one in her arms before gently placing it back down and picking up the next.

Santana didn't think she could watch anymore; the loss she felt for the innocent pups was hard enough but seeing Brittany so upset was really affecting her. The glance she tossed at Tommy confirmed he was feeling it too as he watched Rebekah whisper words of encouragement to Mama.

"This one's alive!" Brittany suddenly squealed as the fourth puppy suddenly began to wriggle where it was being clutched to Brittany's breast. "It's alive! Look it's alive!"

Brittany held the tiny body out in her hands and sure enough it had started to squirm, blindly searching for its mother's milk. Brittany started laughing through her tears and looked to Santana with intense relief. But then Rebekah had moved closer to inspect the puppy and Brittany was focused on holding it out to her instead. Rebekah joined in on Brittany's relieved laughter as she encouraged Brittany to show the puppy to Mama. Mama licked tiredly at the pup in Brittany's hands before Rebekah guided Brittany's arms down to place the puppy next to Mama to feed. Both girls laughed and clapped when the puppy immediately latched on to a nipple and began to suckle.

Santana's feet finally remembered how to work as she moved to Brittany's side and knelt beside her so she could pat Mama's head.

Brittany bumped her shoulder and smiled at her looking every bit the proud parent… or grandparent- Santana wasn't really sure how the relationship worked when the 'child' in question was actually a family dog.

They sat like that, side by side watching over mother and puppy sleeping together in Mama's basket.. The mess in the laundry had all been cleaned up and Tommy had buried the other puppies in the backyard before retiring to bed with Rebekah at Santana's insistence.

"I wanted to give you one of the puppies you know," Santana shared softly as she pulled Brittany in to snuggle closer. "I thought you could take it home to terrorize Lord Tubbington."

Brittany punched her softly in the thigh before snuggling even closer. Santana was sitting on the floor as she leaned back against the wall and Brittany was cuddled into her side and using her chest as a pillow. They were both exhausted from their emotional day but they wanted to make sure the puppy made it through the night.

"Lord Tubbington would love a puppy. He would totally adopt it and teach it how to hunt," Brittany informed her dreamily.

Santana chuckled but didn't have the heart to tell Brittany that Lord Tubbington wouldn't know how to hunt if his life depended on it. The only reason he managed to catch that mouse that one time was because he'd sat on it and squashed the poor thing.

"But I can't take it away from Mama now San, it's the only one left and she'd be so sad," Brittany insisted. "The puppy has to stay here."

"Because we really need more dogs around this place," Santana mumbled with a roll of her eyes- but it was all for show because Santana knew as well as anyone that the puppy that had miraculously survived wasn't going anywhere. It was an honorary Lopez now- just like its mother.

"Can I still name it?" Brittany asked excitedly. "I have the best idea."

"Sure," Santana agreed, not able to resist the childlike excitement shining in Brittany's eyes.

"Then I choose to name him… or her-," Brittany erred as she realised they still didn't know the sex of the puppy, "I name it '_Meeko'!_"

Santana started laughing, earning a pout from Brittany.

"It's a dog Britt- not a racoon," Santana reminded her.

"So," Brittany shrugged. "What does that matter? 'John Smith' is a boy- but I'm still _your John Smith_."

Santana smiled at Brittany's reference to their favourite make-believe game growing up. She nodded as she realised Brittany was absolutely right.

"And I'm _your Pocahontas_," Santana said proudly as she rested her head top of Brittany's and squeezed her tight.

...


	12. Chapter 12

Santana groaned as she felt herself being shaken awake much earlier than she considered acceptable, since she'd been up _puppysitting_ for most of the night. Brittany's amused giggle coming from somewhere overhead was the only reason she cracked open an eye to take in the scene.

Brittany was hovering over her on all fours, nudging her insistently with an adoring smile on her lips. When she saw Santana start to stir she threw a leg over Santana's stomach and settled there, innocently straddling her while she waited for Santana to completely wake up.

"Wakey wakey, sleepyhead," Brittany called playfully.

"No, I don't wanna," Santana whined immaturely as she began to squirm under Brittany's weight trying to pull the sheet now sandwiched between them up a little higher so she could hide under it.

Brittany just giggled again and leaned down to rest her lips delicately against Santana's. Santana smiled at the sensation of Brittany's soft lips on hers that was becoming increasingly more familiar to her. When Brittany sat back up, she watched Santana's tired eyes flutter open to look up at her properly. Santana's eyes were shining with adoration that made Brittany's stomach feel like it was full of jittery butterflies. If it wasn't for the magnetic pull that kept her constantly drawn to Santana she was sure she would have floated away with them.

"Mmm, I could definitely get used to that," Santana hummed her approval.

They shared a smile until the sound of heavy rainfall caught Santana's attention and she frowned over at her rain splattered window wondering where the smouldering sun from yesterday had disappeared to.

"It's raining," Santana said, pointing out the obvious.

"Mother nature is super sad about Mama's puppies," Brittany nodded in agreement with a sad pout.

Santana felt another pang of sadness clutch at her until Brittany started smiling again.

"But if last night taught me anything it's that you've got to live every day to the fullest," Brittany explained passionately, "Which means **not** wasting the day away in bed."

Santana rolled her eyes at Brittany's well executed jibe.

"So come on get up," Brittany instructed as she squeezed Santana's shoulders, "We're going running!"

Santana jaw dropped comically. As much as she loved running- especially on those rare occasions when the lithely blonde joined her, the idea of going for a jog right now just seemed a little absurd even to her.

"Um Britt, I thought we just established that it's raining," Santana reminded her as she bit back her chuckle. "_Really_ raining."

"Yeah sooo?" Brittany enquired in a sing-song voice.

"Britt we'd get soaked!" Santana couldn't hold back her laughter anymore. "Why on earth would you want to go on a run_ right now_?"

"Because…" Brittany sat up a little straighter while she started idly picking at the thin sheet still separating their bodies. "I was just thinking that you might want to enjoy doing your favourite thing one last time… before it becomes your second favourite thing."

Santana frowned in confusion until she saw Brittany begin to smirk to herself cheekily as colour tinged her cheeks. Santana realised she was grinning like a lovesick fool up at Brittany who caught her eye and caused the two girls to start giggling nervously at each other.

"I hate to break it to you Britt but I think running already got knocked off the favourite spot…" Santana informed her slyly.

Brittany raised her eyebrows as she smiled down at Santana clearly interested in hearing more.

"And if I'm being completely honest…" Santana beckoned to Brittany to come closer as if she was about to share a deep dark secret with her. "Cuddling always held the number one spot anyway, but I didn't want to seem like a wimp, so…"

Brittany's nose wrinkled adorably as she scrunched it smiling back at Santana.

"Daww, but I love wimpy Santana," Brittany murmured playfully.

Santana grinned back at her enjoying this new playful banter between them and realised rather excitedly that they were actually flirting with one another.

"So what's in the top spot now then?" Brittany asked, feigning ignorance as her eyes fell to Santana's lips telling her loud and clear that she already knew the answer.

"I'll give you a hint… we can do it right here," Santana purred, licking her lips in eagerness for the kiss she was hoping would follow.

Brittany's eyes flicked up to Santana's looking dangerously mischievous.

"So what you're saying is that going on a run right now would be pointless?" Brittany teased out as she slowly sat back up enjoying the way Santana was hungrily looking at her. She was still trying to sound as suggestive as she could, but an edge of anticipation was creeping into her voice.

Santana moved her hands to rest on Brittany's thighs as the blonde perched above her. She trailed her hands up and down the soft, smooth skin of Brittany's long naked legs, realising that Brittany must only be wearing her underwear beneath that wrinkled baggy shirt of Santana's she'd clearly thrown on to sleep in. She was tempted to lift the hem of the shirt to take a peek, suddenly realising the sight of Brittany's privates covered in nothing but a tight scrap of material would be incredibly appealing right about now (even though it had never seemed like such a big deal before). But she managed to refrain from transitioning from supportive best friend into a total pervert.

"Completely pointless," Santana nodded, eagerly playing along.

"Then what am I going to do with all this pent up energy that I have?" Brittany asked innocently as she twirled a strand of her mussed up bed hair around a finger.

Santana's cheeks were starting to hurt from grinning but she seriously couldn't stop.

"You are so…" Santana's voice trailed off as she tried to find the right word to describe how Brittany's behaviour was making her feel. She raked her eyes over the blonde sitting on her and couldn't deny the truth as it finally clicked into place for her; "So **_sexy_**."

Brittany's cheeks reddened as she suddenly became shy at Santana's vocal appreciation of her.

"Really?" Brittany squeaked bashfully. "You've never called me that before."

"I think my eyes only just started working properly," Santana joked at her own expense realising how very blind she must have been all this time to not notice _this_.

Brittany blushed harder as Santana continued to devour her with her eyes, before she suddenly tensed where she sat and looked as though there was something that she really needed to get off her chest.

"Look San," Brittany began sounding serious. "Yesterday when, when you called me out… You know for like… doing that _thing_… _touching myself_…"

Santana's eyes widened at the hushed words as the memory of yesterday rushed back to her. The scent of Brittany had been so thick and heady in the air that she'd nearly been lost to it. She was musing about whether or not it would always be that way in future sexual situations with her bond mate when she realised Brittany hadn't stopped rambling.

"- and we always do everything together so it's not like I've ever have the time to," Brittany was spluttering out in embarrassment. "So I just wanted you to know that it was the first time I'd ever done… _that_. I don't make a habit of it or anything."

Santana realised that Brittany was worried that she would judge her for masturbating and while Santana had personally been ashamed for considering doing so herself yesterday, she couldn't comprehend ever imagining Brittany touching herself to be a bad thing. She was honestly getting flushed just thinking about it... Especially if she thought about Brittany touching herself while thinking about _her_.

Santana waved her hands in Brittany's face trying to get her to stop rambling.

"Hey it's okay, you don't have to be embarrassed about that kind of thing with me," Santana urged in reassurance. "I mean I kind of did it too when I was in the bathroom yesterday."

Santana's face heated when Brittany suddenly looked incredulous.

"I- I mean I wasn't like _going at it_ in the shower or anything," Santana realised she was the one now stumbling over her words as she tried to clear up her explanation. "But I could feel myself getting turned on and I'd never felt that before… and I didn't even realise that was what I was feeling until I touched between my legs..."

"You were turned on yesterday?" Brittany whispered in amazement as her ears began to glow red. "Was it… was it because of me?"

"Of course," Santana laughed. "Why do you think I bolted out of there to go on that run?"

"You said it was because you were scared…" Brittany repeated Santana's reasoning of yesterday's fears.

"I was. I was scared of letting you down with my inexperience," Santana agreed, "And terrified too-because I was losing control over myself."

Brittany shook her head not believe how ridiculous they'd both been acting when apparently they both did want precisely the same thing. She laid her body back down over Santana's so that she was leaning on her forearms and supporting herself, face hovering above hers.

"I want you to lose control," Brittany urged as she let her hot breathe hit Santana's lips. "Let's just _feel_ and we'll figure out the rest together."

Santana slid her hands up Brittany's sides until she could squeeze at her hips.

"So I take it that staying in bed all day isn't looking so bad anymore?" Santana questioned through a cheeky smile.

"Well that depends on what we're doing _in bed_," Brittany's chortle was cut short as she bit her lip and stared once more at Santana's plump lips.

"Please just kiss me already," Santana whispered desperately as her eyes widened trying to take all of Brittany in at such close range.

Brittany's eyes flicked to Santana's and widened in response to Santana's plea.

Her eyelashes fluttered closed once… twice… three times…

And then Brittany closed the distance between their lips. This kiss was their softest yet as Brittany took full advantage of the way Santana's lips puckered to cushion her own.

Santana's eyes closed as soon she felt Brittany's lips touch hers. She was more than happy to lie there and let Brittany drag her lips back and forth, nudging at her own but as soon as Brittany's caresses started to become more insistent and she began sucking on her bottom lip, Santana started to frown in distress. It wasn't that she wasn't enjoying the new sensation- far from it; Brittany's mouth felt incredible, all warmth and softness in all the ways she'd only imagined… but with Brittany's mouth begging her to reciprocate, Santana's insecurities began to rush back at her, reminding her of all the things she'd overlooked in her haste to let this happen. Things like the fact that she hadn't brushed her teeth yet so she probably had horrible morning breath…

Santana clamped her lips tighter shut, worrying that her mouth was going to taste disgusting. All the stories she'd overheard girls swapping in the change room at school about the terrible kisses they'd experienced were ringing in her ears and distracting her. She started worrying that her mouth was too wet and Brittany would feel like she was drowning… but then just to overcompensate she was sure her mouth had gone completely dry – too dry in fact that Brittany would probably start gagging.

Santana whimpered because the way Brittany had switched to nibble on her top lip left Brittany's bottom lip moving against the fine line of her pressed lips and it would be _so easy_ for Santana to open her mouth and latch on to it.

Brittany opened her eyes and pulled back at the sound, chuckling at Santana's tormented expression. She reached a hand up to smooth out the crease on Santana's forehead before cupping Santana's face with both hands.

"Santana," Brittany chastised kindly, "Stop thinking."

Santana kept her eyes shut as she nodded and almost hesitantly wet her lips.

Brittany's heart jumped a beat at the sight of Santana's tongue peeking out between her lips and she giggled to herself as she leaned in close once more and licked at Santana's lips mimicking what Santana's tongue had just done.

Santana gasped and her mouth edged open in surprise at the texture of Brittany's tongue against her.

Brittany was hoping for that reaction and she immediately pressed her lips back against Santana's pulling Santana's top lip into her mouth. The times Puck had kissed her he had been rough and almost overenthusiastic so Brittany was enjoying taking her time with Santana and trying new things… but she still really wanted to taste her and finally know what it would feel like to have Santana's tongue licking at her own.

"Kiss me," Brittany mumble-purred around Santana's lip and smiled when she felt Santana's bottom lip twitch and prod back at her.

Santana felt Brittany smiling and decided she liked feeling a smile on Brittany even more than seeing one. All previous reservations were forgotten as she focused on that smile and she moved her bottom lip again trying to mimic what Brittany had been doing to her.

An excited squeal escaped from Brittany and she pushed her nose into Santana's, rubbing against it in a show of celebration before focusing once more on Santana's mouth. She sucked on Santana's top lip and then very deliberately ran the tip of her tongue along it.

Santana hummed as Brittany began to lick at her and before she even realised what she was doing, she was opening her mouth for more.

Brittany jumped at the invitation and very gently slipped her tongue into Santana's mouth, dragging it across the roof of Santana's mouth and back across her teeth as she pulled away again.

Santana whimpered at the ticklish and yet addictive caress as her mouth closed softly around Brittany's lips and then immediately pushed open against them trying to coax Brittany to open her mouth back up to her. Brittany's mouth was so warm and soft and inviting.

Brittany complied and let Santana adventurously try licking back at her. Santana's questing tongue was much more timid but Brittany felt the shy nudge and couldn't help smiling into the kiss again. Brittany let Santana settle into a comfortable rhythm as their mouths continued to mash and tongues pushed past lips, prodding and teasing.

Brittany waited until she couldn't contain her excitement anymore and when she felt Santana's next bold swipe of the tongue she licked back at Santana so that their tongues met at the middle.

Santana's head jolted back in surprise as her eyes snapped open.

Brittany hesitantly opened her eyes and took in the sight of Santana's swollen lips and wild curious eyes. She imaged she looked much the same.

"Was that okay?" Brittany whispered unsurely.

Puck hadn't given her a choice when he'd forced his tongue into her mouth and although she'd grown to enjoy the wet exchange, she was sure she would have preferred it if he'd taken his time and allowed her to get used to the idea.

Santana nodded slowly as she lifted her head to bring their lips back together, pushing her tongue into Brittany's mouth and wiggling it around until she felt Brittany's flick back at her.

"Mhmm," Santana sighed at the velvety texture and widened her mouth trying to feel more.

Santana ran her hands further up Brittany's body until they pressed against her shoulder blades and pulled her down more securely against her.

Brittany gasped as Santana deepened the kiss and was more than happy to oblige as their tongues began rolling together heatedly.

The kiss was slow and languid but it was deep and probing and left both girls gasping for breath whenever they pulled away for air.

"_Brittany_," Santana sighed the blonde's name just trying to express her amazement at the sensations coursing through her. She really couldn't understand why they'd never done this before.

Brittany's hands slipped from Santana's cheeks as she threaded her fingers through the girl's long dark hair, holding on desperately to the back of Santana's head and neck as she started peppering wet kisses all over Santana's face.

Santana smiled and pushed up into every kiss as her hands blindly grasped at Brittany's body on top of her. She felt like she needed to get closer somehow but Brittany was already pressed flush against her.

Brittany had just started sucking on her neck when Santana caught a whiff of her arousal and couldn't help the loud groan that escaped her throat.

Brittany pulled back and stared down at Santana with a worried expression.

"Did I hurt you?" Brittany asked.

Santana's eyes felt foggy as she deeply breathed in Brittany's scent, feeling her own body tingling in response. She shook her head trying to find focus once more as her whole body rolled up into Brittany's, taking pleasure in every inch of the blonde's body she could touch.

"You smell **so** good," Santana moaned as she pushed up to force their lips back together in a hard bruising kiss.

Brittany would have giggled if Santana didn't start doing this incredible thing with her tongue that made her feel like she was melting. Santana was clearly a fast learner and instinctively knew what to do to wind Brittany up the right way.

Brittany didn't even realise she'd started rocking her body against Santana until she noticed that Santana's kissing was becoming sloppier and the girl under her kept having to pull away to release a strangled gasp. She opened her eyes to see that Santana's cheeks were rosy and that she looked almost pained every time Brittany pressed her hips down looking for friction. Brittany forced her hips to still and waited for Santana to look at her.

Santana whined a little when Brittany seemed to freeze on top of her and the moment's stillness offered the chance for a bit of clarity to return to her. She was a little dismayed to realise her hands weren't even on the blonde any more but rather clutching at the bunched sheet around her hips. She slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Brittany kneeling over her.

"You okay?" Brittany panted, her voice sounding huskier than usual.

Santana nodded again and released her death grip on the bed sheet so she could return her shaking hands to Brittany's hips.

Maintaining eye-contact Brittany gently eased her hips back down to nudge at Santana's through the thin sheet. Santana squeaked as her jaw fell open and her hips jumped up into Brittany's making the blonde echo the noise she'd just made. The girls looked at each other, sharing curiously shy smiles while their cheeks flamed and their chests continued to heave with shaky breaths.

Santana's pyjama shorts felt so drenched between her thighs even though her legs were squeezed together tightly. She experimentally pushed her legs a little wider open trying to relieve the tension mounting there which only caused Brittany's butt to slide down further, settling a bit lower between her slightly spread legs. Santana whimpered because the throbbing between her legs only intensified with this change in position and she was almost certain she could feel the heat of Brittany's own arousal pressing against her despite the layers of material separating them.

Brittany placed her hands on Santana's stomach and sat herself up again as she tried wiggling her hips where she sat, rubbing her pelvis suggestively against Santana. She smiled at the sensations that shot through her core and did it again nudging at Santana a little more insistently.

"_Ohh_," Santana cried throatily as she squeezed at Brittany's hips through her baggy shirt.

Santana started writhing where she lay, not at all prepared for the way her body was reacting to Brittany. Every time Brittany pushed down into her she felt like crying out in pleasure. There was such incredible warmth filling up her belly.

"How… how are you doing that?" Santana gasped out in awe.

Brittany's eyes were closed and she was biting at her lip as she continued to ever so slowly sit and rock against Santana. At Santana's amazed question she blinked open her eyes and looked down at her before dragging her eyes down the contours of Santana's body hidden beneath a silken sheet until she was looking down at her own legs as they twitched with movement. She removed one hand from where it was resting on Santana's stomach and reached for the hem of the large shirt hanging off her, lifting it up just enough so her underwear was on show. She knew they was soaked through- not that Santana could tell from where she was looking, but she knew Santana would now be able to see with vivid detail how she was pressing her sensitive sex against her through the flimsy material.

"I'm just rubbing against you," Brittany explained innocently as her voice jumped with the sensations. Brittany had just felt like rubbing against Santana and had no idea it would feel this good.

Santana stared at Brittany's clothed sex as it pushed against her, panting loudly every time Brittany did so. Her hands slipped up Brittany's sides to clutch at the bunched shirt and held it up for her. Brittany's hand returned to her other one on Santana's stomach and she started pushing off of them to rock a little harder into Santana.

"And you're feeling this too?" Santana whined with want as her hips started pushing up to meet Brittany. She wanted to make sure Brittany wasn't just doing this for her. She had to make sure Brittany was feeling it too.

Santana watched the expressions changing rapidly on Brittany's tensed face. She could tell without a doubt that Brittany was certainly feeling _something_.

Brittany grunted as Santana bucked against her. She bit her lip even harder and squeezed her eyes shut as she nodded emphatically.

Santana couldn't take it anymore- she had to taste Brittany again. She pulled down on Brittany where she was grabbing her by the waist. Brittany was caught off balance by the sudden tug and fell onto Santana's chest with surprise. She wheezed as the air was knocked from her lungs and in her moment of shock, Santana gripped her firmly and rolled them over so she was now on top.

Brittany could only stare up at Santana with wide, surprised eyes as Santana now hovered over her. She couldn't deny the way her heart raced at the feeling of Santana on top of her. The two continued to pant breathing in each other's air until Santana relaxed, pressing all of her weight down onto Brittany and latching her mouth back onto the blonde's. Brittany groaned into Santana's mouth, tipping her head to the side and slanting her mouth open so Santana could lick her deeper.

And then Santana started moving.

The change in position still left Santana pressed between Brittany's thighs and she picked up the rhythm where Brittany left off- bumping and grinding against the space between Brittany's spread legs in time with her kisses. She was spurred on by the throbbing between her own thighs, but mostly by the little noises escaping Brittany with every well-timed thrust.

Brittany mewled into her mouth and tried to increase the friction but the sheet that was still separating them had only got more tangled when they'd rolled over. She tried to desperately paw it away but she didn't want to stop moving or kissing Santana long enough to do the job effectively.

But Santana too was growing frustrated by the tangled sheet and she growled at it as she had to eventually pull away and wrestle it from around her so she could kick it to the floor.

Brittany began to giggle at the sight and Santana's eyes snapped back to hers. They were dark and hungry again like yesterday and it left Brittany craving the heat of Santana back on top of her immediately. Brittany held her arms open in a welcoming invitation as her legs were now able to spread to make even more room for her.

Santana's nostrils flared at the sight of Brittany's open body on offer and she crawled up the blonde's long legs, pausing momentarily over her hips as she dropped to press her face to Brittany's stomach just above the waistband of Brittany's underwear. Her hands found Brittany's thighs and she squeezed them as she breathed in Brittany's scent with a deep approving moan.

Brittany's cheeks coloured as she realised Santana was smelling her and it made her start to squirm with increased arousal, needing to feel Santana against her again. She grabbed at Santana's shoulders and tugged her the rest of the way up.

They started kissing again as they slowly started up their rhythm once more. They rolled back and forth across the bed a few more times, giggling between kisses at the way they could make each other gasp… until their heated play was no longer a laughing matter and both girls were urgently undulating their hips needing more friction.

Santana didn't know what this madness was taking over her body but she knew she couldn't stop now- not when Brittany was clawing at her back and begging her to keep moving.

"Is this normal?" Santana just managed to gasp out as she pressed her sweaty forehead against Brittany's.

"I- _ohh_- I dunno," Brittany panted back. "It feels so good so I think so..."

Santana nodded, pride swelling her chest as Brittany told her she was making her feel good and she focused on what she could do to make her feel even better. She knew she just had to keep on rubbing up against Brittany's sex because that was starting to make the blonde's body twitch uncontrollably. Santana gave Brittany a determined push so she could roll on top of her once more, only this time she straddled one of Brittany's thighs which allowed her to press her trapped leg hard up into Brittany's most sensitive area.

"_Ughh_," Brittany moaned, "_Wow, oh there... San… "_

Brittany's hands grasped at Santana's back as Santana continued to purposefully thrust her leg against her. Brittany realised her own leg was trapped between Santana's thighs and she pointedly pushed it up harder into the brunette, wanting her to feel what she was feeling.

The movement clearly caught Santana by surprise as she cried out and buried her face against Brittany's neck, breathing hard as she now rocked against Brittany's thigh while also make sure she was thrusting hard into Brittany.

It was all too much- Santana knew that the both of them were fit but they couldn't keep up this wild frantic pace forever. And yet the tightness in her stomach was winding tighter still and Santana figured that it had to mean something.

"_Don't stop, don't stop_…" Brittany started chanting as she turned her face to pant into Santana's ear.

Brittany started shaking and bucking up into her ever harder and Santana tried to keep in time with her but Brittany's erratic movements only jolted her own core and made her groan and buck back until their rhythm was completely lost. Brittany's hand found the back of Santana's neck just as her other leg wound around Santana's butt pulling her even closer. The material covering their crotches were soaked through and they could feel the other's arousal rubbing and sliding against their thighs.

The thought of Brittany so turned on, coupled with the smell of her absolutely saturating the room was enough to kick Santana into a new level of pleasure. She bit at Brittany's neck as her legs began to tremble and the mounting pressure in the stomach felt like it was about to explode. She squeezed Brittany tighter needing to feel her and know she was there as she felt like she was losing her mind.

And then Brittany stopped moving completely.

Time seemed to stand still as Santana lifted her head to see Brittany's jaw dropping in a silent scream as her eyes clenched shut and her entire body froze.

Fear clutched at Santana's chest because she didn't know what was happening… but then all of Brittany's muscles seemed to tighten and release at once effectively nudging at Santana 's core and pushing her over the precipice she hadn't even realised she'd been standing on. She collapsed heavily against Brittany as hot, burning pleasure coiled impossibly tight inside of her and then released all at once.

...


	13. Chapter 13

Santana felt like she was having an out of body experience or something. She was aware of her body as it lay heavily draped over Brittany; Her arms and legs felt like jelly and her heart was hammering away in her chest as she continued to pant against Brittany's neck. But she didn't just feel like herself anymore… because she felt like more than that as her senses heightened with increased awareness. She could feel Brittany's heartbeat pounding against her chest matching her own and the way Brittany's chest expanded with every shallow breathe. And she could feel Brittany's fingernails biting into the back of her neck, her other arm wrapped tightly around her shoulders and her leg curled around Santana holding them so intimately pressed. Santana's arms were still under Brittany's back holding her tight as their combined weight pressed them to the bed. Santana wanted to lift her head so she could look at Brittany but she couldn't move. She felt fused to Brittany like she'd just melted all over her.

Or maybe it was just she didn't really want to move and disturb the peacefulness that had settled over them.

Brittany shifted just a little and both girls whimpered as their swollen sexes were jostled as they pressed.

Heat flared through Santana's body once more as she became aware of the clenching that continued to dully throb away between her legs following the explosion that had shaken her body. She could smell Brittany everywhere like no other scent existed in the room and she felt drunk with the need to keep on inhaling her.

Santana turned her face further into Brittany's neck and started nuzzling her. She trailed her nose up and down the length of Brittany's neck, nudging at the hollow below her ear and down to her pronounced collarbone as she sniffed at her euphorically.

Brittany began to squirm as a cute giggle bubbled from her lips.

"San, that tickles!" She squealed.

Santana blinked her eyes slowly and then raised her head to see Brittany smiling back at her serenely. She moved to press their foreheads and closed her eyes again as she continued to breathe Brittany in as they lay tangled together.

"What was that?" Santana sighed in wonder a she continued to try and get a grasp on what had just happened.

"What, you mean your orgasm?" Brittany asked with a playful tone.

Santana opened her eyes and raised her head a bit so she could take in all of Brittany's face, loving the rosy colour in her cheeks.

"_Ohhh_ right… well that does make sense," Santana admitted with a shy smile. She knew what orgasms were… she just never knew what they were supposed to feel like.

Santana bit her lip and looked at Brittany tentatively.

"And did you… did you have an- an orgasm?" Santana asked shyly.

Brittany raised a curious eyebrow as her flush deepened.

"What, you couldn't tell?" Brittany posed.

Santana could vividly remember the way Brittany had tensed beneath her. She remembered the expression that had taken over Brittany's face and the fear that had clutched at her because Brittany had looked like she was in pain… but maybe she had confused the pain for what it really was;

_Pleasure_.

Santana's lips curled into a smug grin.

Brittany watched the expressions change on Santana's face and rolled her eyes playfully at how pleased with herself she suddenly looked.

"Yeah, yeah, okay so you were awesome…" Brittany trailed off mockingly.

"Hey," Santana's eyes squared in a frisky challenge, "I've never done this before!"

"Neither have I!" Brittany retorted with a giggle.

"Well then I guess we both have perfect records then," Santana chimed.

The girls smiled at each other before Santana dipped down and pressed a sweet lingering kiss against Brittany's lips.

"I've never felt like this before," Santana whispered against Brittany's lips.

Brittany figured they weren't just talking about orgasms anymore and waited patiently for Santana to continue.

Santana closed her eyes as she searched for the words to describe what she was feeling. She had never felt so completely overwhelmed by Brittany's existence before except perhaps for when she was a child and first met Brittany. The imprinting had been painful and terrifying at the time from what Santana could remember, but it had also felt fulfilling because meeting Brittany had filled a loneliness in her that she'd never have to feel ever again. And now she was feeling that way again; like the stars were aligning and everything made sense. With Brittany by her side she'd never felt alone… and now with Brittany tangled with her in the aftermath of their newfound intimacy- she realised that she finally felt whole.

"I dunno, just everything feels different now," Santana murmured inexplicably.

"Different **good** or different **bad?" **Brittany asked with an edge of worry.

"Different **perfect**," Santana answered with definitive absolution.

Brittany smiled so wide at that as she rubbed her nose against Santana's and moved her arms until they were both wrapped around Santana's back.

"Hmm well maybe you should have listened to me sooner, because I've always known what you wanted," Brittany knowingly chastised her. "Because I want it too."

"Hmm well I just want you," Santana hummed cheekily. "So you're saying you want yourself?"

Brittany rolled her eyes again and gently pushed Santana so they could lay side by side still tangled together. Santana had to rearrange herself a bit seeing as her arms had been sandwiched beneath Brittany and she simply slid the one she was now leaning on up higher so Brittany could rest her head on it and cuddle into her side.

"I mean, I wouldn't blame you or anything," Santana continued as she made an exaggerated show of checking Brittany out.

"Shh, stop it," Brittany started laughing. "I don't want myself."

"I don't know… I think your right hand would tell a different story after yesterday," Santana teased daringly.

Brittany's jaw dropped in shock and her cheeks coloured again.

"San!" Brittany admonished, "You said that didn't matter!"

Santana snickered at Brittany's reaction as she shook her head.

"It doesn't I promise," Santana said as she grabbed Brittany's right hand and brought it to her mouth to kiss her palm reverently.

Brittany's eyes softened as she slipped her hand from Santana's lips to delicately trace Santana's facial features.

"I just want you," Brittany echoed softly putting an end to that matter.

The girls lay staring at each other in comfortable silence until a small giggle escaped Brittany's lips.

"When did we get so sappy?" Brittany mused.

"I dunno, I blame you," Santana answered with a wrinkled nose.

"Well I blame the orgasms," Brittany replied wisely.

Santana chuckled loudly at her seriousness.

"Well I guess we shouldn't let that happen again then," Santana joked.

"What?" Brittany looked at Santana with alarm. "You don't want to do it again?"

If not for the hurt she could just hear edging into Brittany's panicked voice, Santana would have laughed again at Brittany's reaction. Instead she used her now free hand to pull on Brittany's hip, encouraging her to cuddle even closer.

"Of course I want to do it again," Santana told her surely as she leaned over to whisper in Brittany's ear. "We can do it right now if you want?"

Brittany shivered at Santana's closeness and her husky voice in her ear.

"Now?" Brittany squeaked in surprise, "Again?"

The thought of experiencing that closeness with Santana so soon and maybe even having another orgasm shot a wave a desire straight to her core. It had been such a struggle for them to finally reach this point and she was still quietly a bit amazed that it had even happened… so she hadn't put a lot of thought into when they would do it again. Not knowing Santana as a sexual being before and not having any real experience on the subject herself, Brittany had just assumed it would be something they would always have to arrange to do. And yet Santana was already suggesting they do it again while her underwear was still soaked from the first round.

Their newfound intimacy seemed to be really bringing out the animal in Santana.

Santana hummed her assent as she started wetly kissing Brittany's neck. Santana knew she was definitely keyed up and ready to go another round and judging by the scent of Brittany she had similar thoughts on her mind. Santana kissed up Brittany's neck and paused to start sucking on her jaw as her hand slipped down to the curve of Brittany's butt and pulled her closer. Their legs were still intertwined and as Santana pushed forward she was reminded of the dampness of Brittany's underwear as it pressed against her thigh. Santana groaned as Brittany's thigh returned to pressing against the soaked crotch of her shorts.

They lay panting and unmoving as they stared at each other just enjoying the feeling of being so turned on by one another.

When Brittany's started smiling to herself Santana smiled back curiously.

"What?" Santana enquired.

"I was just thinking…" Brittany shook her head.

"About what?" Santana pushed wanting to know what was so funny.

"Well… for dry sex, we're both kind of wet," Brittany pointed out a little mischievously as her cheeks glowed. She leaned closer to whisper secretively to Santana, "I mean I know its normal and everything… but I just never realised it would be quite like this. My underwear's drenched!"

Just hearing Brittany talking like that almost made Santana start grinding against her then and there but somehow she controlled herself.

"Well you could always take them off."

Santana didn't even recognise her own voice for how deep and husky it sounded as it made that very forward suggestion. She blushed brightly at the statement that had so casually popped from her own mouth.

Brittany's eyes widened at her in surprise.

"Do you want to… do it without clothes on?" Brittany asked her shyly.

Even making the suggestion herself, Santana hadn't really thought about the possibility. But now thinking about doing what they'd just done, all over again and without clothes this time- Santana couldn't get the visual out of her mind of the two of them naked and rolling around together. The thought of pressing her sex up against Brittany's and sliding their wetness together was almost too much for her to handle and she started sluggishly rocking herself on Brittany's thigh. It didn't last long though as she realised what she was doing and quickly disentangled herself, finding strength in her jelly limbs to moving backwards on the bed so they were still close but no longer touching.

Santana shook her head at the smell of Brittany; the maddening smell of sex in the air.

Brittany was watching her unsurely- not knowing how to interpret her conflicting actions.

"Sorry," Santana apologised. "I got a bit carried away for second. But if we're going to discuss this properly we should do so without distraction."

Brittany nodded in understanding but silently waited for Santana to answer the initial question.

"I want what you want Britt, if you think you're ready for that step then we should try it," Santana reassured. The nerves were edging back into her voice again; the kissing had been easy once she'd relaxed enough to just enjoy it… and the 'dry sex' as Brittany had put it had come even easier- her body had naturally wanted to keep moving against Brittany and despite their fumbling it had amazingly led to the both of them having orgasms on their first try. But _real_ sex would undoubtedly be a lot more complicated with a lot more specialised touching and that made Santana nervous again. "But only if you're ready."

However, despite her reoccurring nerves Santana really did want to try it. A new kind of hunger had awakened in her since she stopped hiding from the way Brittany really made her feel. Now she felt like she couldn't get enough of her. And where their last round had made her feel closer to the blonde… the more they did it she was certain it would only bring them even closer.

"I want to," Brittany agreed as she sat up and turned her body to face Santana. "I want to try everything with you…"

Santana could tell that Brittany was nervous too and she sat up mirroring Brittany so she could talk to her more like an equal and less like a horny teenager laid out waiting to be touched.

"But…?" Santana urged her on knowing there was something she wasn't sharing.

Brittany's brow wrinkled adorably as she tilted her head and looked endearingly at Santana.

"Do you think I could have a drink first?" Brittany asked. "I'm really thirsty."

Santana hadn't been expecting that in the slightest and she laughed loudly as she leaned forward on her knees and pressed a chaste kiss to Brittany's lips.

"Of course!" Santana said still laughing. "You stay here and I'll go grab us some juice."

Santana climbed off her bed and headed out into the hall. Her house was so quiet when her parents weren't home. She spared a thought for Tommy's whereabouts as she glanced further up the hall towards his bedroom but there was no way she was going anywhere near there to confirm anything. She did not want to chance hearing her brother having sex when she was about to have full on naked sex for the first time.

Santana frowned as she wandered down the stairs and through her house headed for the kitchen. She was wondering about what constituted sex for two girls anyway and if they would just do a repeat performance of what they'd already done. Santana figured she could manage that- even if having a very naked Brittany laid out below her would make it slightly more challenging because she'd be so much more _distracted_.

But Santana couldn't deny the part of her that was curious for more. She knew her own body and what she had to offer… and even though Brittany technically had the same 'parts' as her, she'd be lying if she didn't admit that the idea of seeing and touching Brittany's body didn't make her already soaked pyjama shorts that little bit wetter.

Santana huffed as she realised that walking around when she was this turned on was incredibly uncomfortable. She could feel that her slit was sensitively swollen as it throbbed with her every stride. And the wet crotch of her shorts clung to her stickily making her feel self-conscious that someone would be able to see the big wet patch and instantly know she was aroused. Not that it really mattered since she was practically walking around a ghost house.

The urge to be touched down there was driving her crazy and she was starting to hope that was what Brittany had in mind for them when she returned upstairs. Brittany had been touching herself with her hand yesterday after all. Touching herself had never interested her, but the idea of Brittany touching her made her need to stop and take a breather. A new wave of arousal washed over her as she thought about Brittany letting Santana touch her in return.

Thinking about it was really not helping Santana's current state. She shook her head to clear it and carried on her way, entering the kitchen and collecting two glasses from the cupboard and then a bottle of juice from the fridge.

"Wow, the whole bottle… you girls must be really parched," Tommy drawled from across the room.

Santana froze but had the sense to spin first and stand with her legs pressed together super tight so that any wet stain on her shorts (if there even was one) would not be able to be seen. It was uncomfortable while also feeling kind of nice at the same time, but there was no time to think about that as she focused on not letting on about her aroused state to Tommy. If he found out she'd never live it down.

She didn't quite understand Tommy's tone so she merely glowered at him as he lounged in a chair on the other side of the room with Mama asleep at his feet and the new puppy cradled in his lap.

"You and Brittany have been locked away in your room for an awfully long time," Tommy commented slyly when Santana showed no sign of responding.

"So we slept in a little…" Santana shrugged.

"A little?" Tommy chuckled. "Tana it's well past midday. That's a new record even for you."

Santana tried not to let her surprised reaction show at learning how late in the day it was. Had they really slept in and then been fooling around that long?

"So that's why I'm so hungry," Santana dismissed with another shrug. She eyed the bowl of fruit on the kitchen counter with interest and decided to make a quick dash for it. The island counter offered great cover for her to comfortably stand behind. "We were up late, remember?"

"That _must_ be why you're so hungry…" Tommy grinned. "In fact I bet you're absolutely ravenous."

Santana frowned at Tommy again, not understanding why he was acting so weird. And then she realised that he must already know something. She didn't think that she and Brittany had been particularly loud but what if he had somehow overheard them?

Santana shifted uncomfortably on her feet once more as she tried not to let it show on her face how incredibly embarrassed she was starting to feel. She started to panic thinking that perhaps Tommy could smell it on her… but she was quite certain she'd never been able to smell anything different about him any of the times he'd been pawing at Rebekah in front of her.

"Where's Rebekah?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"She's gone home for a bit. Not everyone is as fortunate as you to imprint at the innocent age where you can move in and grow up as part of the family. Beka has a family of her own that don't quite approve of her moving in with a guy who is still 'practically a stranger' they say. And besides we don't need to be joined at the hip like you and Britt all the time."

Santana chuckled at the competitive tone in his voice. Now that was the Tommy she knew. She took her time choosing a few select fruits from the bowl before realising it would be too hard to carry them all with the juice. She returned the fruit to the bowl and simply picked up the whole bowl instead.

"It's killing you isn't it," Santana teased knowingly. "Not being with her?"

Tommy flushed as he realised she was turning the tables on him. He ever so gently placed the sleeping Meeko down on the ground next to Mama and stalked over to the lean on the kitchen counter on the opposite side to Santana.

"That's a lot of fruit you got there," Tommy observed as he plucked an apple from the bowl for himself. "Need to keep your energy up huh?"

Tommy sent her a knowing smirk as he bit into the apple.

Santana squared her eyes at Tommy. She knew what he was up to now; he didn't know anything for sure but he was insinuating that something had happened between her and Brittany, in hope that he'd trip her up and then catch her out.

"I know what you're trying to do Tommy and it won't work," Santana warned as she tried to figure out her best escape route without making it look like she was running away from him.

"I just wanted to tell you how nice it is to see that you and Brittany worked everything out so fast after all the drama of last night," Tommy posed innocently.

"Yeah we're fine," Santana murmured trying to sound bored. She gritted her teeth at having to endure this interrogation when Brittany was waiting for her upstairs.

"You must have really made an _impression_ on her," Tommy said suggestively.

"Look I know I asked first, but this continuing interest in my sex life is starting to get creepy," Santana gritted out.

"Ha, so you did have sex!" Tommy announced as he slapped the bench-top in celebration.

"I didn't say that," Santana denied realising he was cornering her and she needed to make a break for it. She made sure she had a firm grip on the fruit bowl and then collected the juice and glasses in her other arm before very awkwardly backing out of the kitchen. She made a point of glaring back at Tommy as though that was the reason she was exiting this way.

"Well then why'd you bring up sex?" Tommy continued as he started following her out of the room.

He was still grinning like he knew something that she didn't. Santana very much doubted that but he was still good at giving that impression.

Santana had backed right up to the staircase at this point and Tommy was still following her tauntingly.

"What do you want Tommy?" Santana growled wearily as her patience was starting to wear thin.

"Hey, don't take it out on me if you couldn't satisfy Brittany the first time. I'm sure she'll sweeten right up after this offering of fruit here, enough to maybe even let you try again," Tommy held up his hands as though pretending he wasn't trying to offend with his word.

Santana's face started to contort with anger.

"Hey I satisfied Brittany just fine. She said so!" Santana spat back at him defensively.

And then, upon realising what she'd just let slip, Santana knew that he had her.

Tommy bent over as hearty laughter erupted from him.

"I knew it!" Tommy claimed victoriously. "You're losing touch sis- that was way too easy. Oh wow, I've got to tell Beka. I told her you two were doing the nasty."

And with that he spun around and walked away, laughing to himself as he pulled his phone out of his pocket and started texting.

Santana watching him go as she grumbled to herself for being so transparent.

"Well we really haven't," Santana called after him.

"Yeah, okay Santana," Tommy called back as he disappeared into another room.

Santana swore and hurried back up the stairs and straight back into her room. She placed the bowl of fruit, glasses and juice on a nearby dresser and then went back to the door, closing it securely and locking it.

When she turned around to look for Brittany she found her tucked in a freshly made bed, watching her in amusement.

"What was all that about?" Brittany asked; referring to the snippets of conversation she'd caught from downstairs.

"Ugh, just Tommy being Tommy," Santana shook her head and then went about pouring Brittany a glass of juice. "He tricked me into admitting that we'd had sex… but we haven't- have we? I mean does _that_ count?"

Brittany shrugged as she sat up in bed, holding the bedcovers to her chest and accepted the glass from Santana's hand.

"I'm not sure… but I kind of think it does," Brittany answered before taking a long sip of her juice.

"There's fruit there too if you're hungry?" Santana offered waving at the bowl of fruit.

Brittany shook her head and kept on drinking.

"Anyways we're going to have to go to your house now," Santana announced.

Brittany choked on her current mouthful as she looked at Santana with disbelief.

"But I thought we were going to…_ you know_," Brittany reminded her.

"Oh we still can, just at your house," Santana told her.

Brittany frowned over at her.

"But my parents are there…" Brittany whined.

"Oh it's cool, your parents know about us," Santana calmly explained as she recalled her exchange with Mr and Mrs Pierce yesterday. "I asked for their permission to date you, yesterday."

Brittany's expression softened as she stared at Santana in disbelief.

"You told my parents about us?" Brittany asked in a small voice. "And you want to date me?"

"Yeah, of course," Santana said with a shy smile. "I don't want to just fool around- I want to treat you right. And I don't want to keep it a secret from your parents."

Brittany stared at her; Santana never ceased to amaze her. Sure, the fact that her parents would now know without a doubt that they were sleeping together was mortifying… but it was still incredibly cute that Santana had gone to them for permission. She'd have to ask her mom about that later.

"Brittany?" Santana prompted when the blonde didn't respond but rather kept on staring at her with a dazed expression. "Is that okay?"

Brittany snapped out of it and smiled winningly at Santana.

"Santana Lopez, get in this bed right this instant," Brittany commanded.

Santana started smirking as Brittany's no-nonsense tone suddenly reminded her that her sex was still screaming for attention.

"What about Tommy?" Santana asked worriedly.

"So what if he knows," Brittany stated. "We both know he's been screwing Rebekah all weekend and it hasn't stopped him. Now it's our turn…"

Santana bit her lip as she glanced hesitantly at the door. Brittany's dirty mouth was really screwing up her judgement on the matter. And it wasn't like she really cared that Tommy knew anyway… it was just that she was suddenly feeling all of this extra performance pressure at the thought of someone else knowing what she was doing in here when she was really only just figuring it out herself.

Santana walked over to retrieve Brittany's empty glass from her already knowing her mind was made up to stay but wanting to mess with Brittany a little.

"Wow you really were thirsty," Santana commented as she took the glass from her and walked it back over to her dresser.

"Don't change the subject, San," Brittany warned knowingly. "I love that you told my parents about us… but I really don't want my parents hovering around in the next room when we're trying to figure this stuff out for the first time. Your parents aren't home till tomorrow, so let's take advantage of that. Now hurry up already I'm getting cold in here on my own."

Santana smiled quizzically at her and for the first time noted that Brittany's shoulders were now bare as she sat up clutching the bedcovers to her chest.

"Wait a minute… are you naked already?" Santana asked in amazement as she continued to shamelessly stare at Brittany.

"Maybe," Brittany murmured suggestively as she lay her head back down amongst the pillows and wriggled around getting comfortable. "There's only one way to really find out."

Santana wiped her palms on her shorts- adding just a little bit more moisture to the mix, and then slowly made her way back over to the bed, not being able to deny Brittany of any request.

...

* * *

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	14. Chapter 14

Santana tried crawling up the bed as seductively as she could but her eagerness just left her feeling clumsy and awkward. Brittany didn't appear to notice though, as she smiled widely at her approach. Santana was hovering beside her on all fours when Brittany's hand clasped round her wrist and halted her from peeling back the covers.

"Aren't you going to get naked too?" Brittany enquired.

Santana raised an eyebrow at Brittany as she sat back on her knees.

"So that was your plan all along huh?" Santana accused slyly. "To get yourself comfortable and then watch me strip for you."

Brittany simply grinned back up at her, denying nothing.

"I've already seen you naked loads of times before…" Brittany reminded her cheekily.

Santana reached for Brittany's closest hand and started playing with her fingers distractedly.

"Yeah but it's different now," Santana reminded her softly in turn.

Brittany tugged her hand back, pulling Santana's along with it so that the brunette could only follow and lay down beside her on top of the bed covers.

"Different _perfect_, remember," Brittany echoed Santana's earlier sentiment. "I think that still means I get to see you naked though."

Santana smiled bashfully at Brittany's insistence. Wanting to see someone naked seemed like such an odd request before; she'd never got a thrill from being naked but just knowing Brittany wanted to look at all of her- and especially those parts she kept covered up from the rest of the world, made her feel flushed all over. She understood Brittany's urge though… because she felt it for Brittany too.

"I feel shy now," Santana admitted trying not to show her returning awkwardness.

Brittany giggled and leaned closer to whisper in Santana's ear.

"Why do you think I'm hiding under the covers?"

Santana's lips curled into a smile at Brittany's admission.

"Hey no fair," Santana scolded playfully.

"I can cover my eyes until you get under the covers too?" Brittany suggested with a shrug, pretending that watching Santana strip wasn't really that appealing.

Santana sat back up and watched Brittany thoughtfully. Once she was naked and in bed with Brittany she'd have a whole new string of things to worry about, but getting naked was really the first obstacle she had to overcome before anything else could happen between them.

Brittany could tell that Santana was about to give in and respectfully reached up to cover her eyes with her hands.

Santana sat waiting a beat longer as she knew Brittany better than anyone and sure enough after only a couple of seconds covering her eyes, Brittany edged her fingers open and started to peer through.

"Brittany!" Santana chastised through a chuckle, "No peeking!"

Brittany began to laugh manically at being caught trying to perve on Santana but realised rather quickly by Santana's crossed arms that she wasn't going to budge and start undressing anytime soon if she continued to pull stunts like that.

"Alright, alright," Brittany conceded with a dramatic 'huff' as she rolled over and buried her face in the pillows.

The sight of Brittany's bare shoulder blades peeking out from the covers made Santana's breath hitch and she scooted off the side of the bed to strip herself of her shirt and shorts in record timing. Once completely naked she lifted the closest corner of the bed cover and slipped in, enjoying the way her naked body slid across silky sheets.

Brittany felt the bed shift under Santana's weight and grinned into the pillow under her face. When Santana settled beside her close enough that she could feel her body warmth emanating off of her, Brittany turned her head to smile across the pillows at her.

While Brittany was now laying on her front, Santana was flat on her back clutching the covers to her neck and grinning over at her in a mixture of giddy excitement and nervousness.

"This feels really naughty," Brittany commented as she turned her body once more to face Santana.

Spurred on by Brittany's daring Santana rolled onto her side so she could look back at the blonde. They were now lying as close as possible without touching. Santana couldn't believe how hot she felt; she felt hotter now wearing no clothes than when she was still dressed some moments ago.

"Are you really naked under there?" Santana asked softly as she edged her head closer to steal a quick kiss that left a smile on her face. "You taste like juice."

Brittany's eyes had fluttered closed at the press of Santana's lips and she hummed and licked her lips when the pressure disappeared.

"You taste delicious," Brittany said cutely as she opened her eyes and slowly reached for Santana's shoulder, sliding her hand down the limb until she found Santana's hand. She squeezed it tight and then pulled it across the space between them to place it low on her hip, "Butt naked. You?"

Santana squeezed the curve under her palm and bit her lip as she wriggled closer until she could feel Brittany's entire front pressed up against her.

"Oh," Brittany exhaled in a warm staggering exhale.

Their breasts were now firmly squashed and Santana had to smile when Brittany's hand that was still under the covers between them suddenly got trapped between their warm flesh making the blonde's face turn bright red as she fumbled to find a respectable place to rest her hand. She eventually settled it on Santana's waist, but given the current circumstances even that seemed incredibly suggestive.

Santana kept her body as still as she could as she leaned forward and began nuzzling at Brittany's face just enjoying their closeness.

"You have no idea how incredible you smell," Santana commented as she started pressing innocent kisses to the curled corner of Brittany's lips. "I mean you always smell good, but _this_ is something else."

"Are you really going to be forever able to tell when I'm turned on now?" Brittany asked trying to sound annoyed but it really only came out sounding curious, "Just by smelling me?"

Santana merely shrugged as she tried to wiggle even closer; she didn't know how her heightened sense of smell worked exactly but she was quite certain she'd never be able to ignore this particular scent if she caught wind of it. She was starting to understand some of the things Tommy had mentioned to her yesterday – like how he could never ignore Rebekah's needs when she was _'in the mood'. _Santana now knew what that felt like; the moment she knew Brittany was aroused and she could smell sex wafting off of her, Santana didn't stand a chance at controlling her own body's reaction and her innate need to please her mate.

"Well if I smell that you're turned on then it turns me on," Santana imparted honestly as she continued to rub her nose over the contours of Brittany's face. "I think that's rather _convenient_, don't you?"

"So what now?" Brittany genuinely asked. Like Santana had just pointed out they were both more than ready, there was no point in beating around the bush about it. "Now that we're both naked and turned on and cuddled in your big bed…"

Santana didn't know if Brittany was purposely saying such things to make her squirm even more because even though she was very aware that they were both naked and turned on, hearing the words from Brittany's mouth made the situation seem that much more intense.

Santana had no words to answer, she was as clueless about how to proceed as Brittany so she did the first thing she could think of and captured Brittany's lips with her own.

"Mmm," Brittany giggled as she eagerly opened her lips to the welcoming warmth of Santana's mouth.

Santana knew that when they'd kissed last time it had turned into a heated affair and a mass of twisted, writhing limbs… and while that had felt wild and amazing, she wanted to take her time with Brittany this time around, which meant keeping a cool head and staying in control…

A feat which seemed almost impossible when Brittany was already busy trying to suck her tongue back into her mouth with her.

Santana groaned as Brittany's soft lips wrapped around her tongue and she began to swirl her tongue around her enticingly. Santana was forced to pull back suddenly before her hips got carried away and started nudging at Brittany's again. Their naked thighs were already shifting idly as they pressed, which was maddening enough knowing how close their bare centres were to each other.

Brittany whimpered in disapproval as Santana pulled away and she pushed forward in hot pursuit, reconnecting their mouths immediately.

Santana teasingly licked at Brittany's mouth but as soon as Brittany opened hers and tried to lick back at her, Santana pulled away again with a cheeky grin on her face.

They settled into a teasing rhythm until Brittany couldn't take it anymore and reached up with both hands to hold on to Santana's cheeks and keep her in place.

"_San_," Brittany whined with a pout.

"What?" Santana giggled pretending she didn't know what Brittany was complaining about.

"Keep still," Brittany ordered and she pressed forward once more as she tried licking at Santana's still stubbornly closed mouth. "And stop teasing me."

Santana gave in and edged her lips open just enough for the tip of Brittany's tongue to flick inside before relaxing her jaw completely and wholeheartedly rolling her tongue into Brittany's mouth with deep probing licks that wrestled with Brittany's tongue on every other stroke.

Brittany groaned at the unexpected fullness of the kiss happening inside her mouth as her hands slipped lower to grip at Santana's shoulders. She could only take so much of Santana's dominating control of her mouth before it was her turn to pull away gasping for air.

Santana giggled as she pushed closer trying to follow her.

"You told me to stop teasing," Santana reminded her knowingly.

"You're getting way too good at that," Brittany panted as her sparkling eyes locked back on Santana's. "I think I created a kissing monster."

Santana took an exaggerated whiff of the air as she pressed her forehead against Brittany's and murmured hotly against her lips.

"Smells like you're enjoying it."

Brittany nodded not seeing much point in denying how horny all this naked kissing was making her feel when Santana could smell it on her anyway. She started pecking gently at Santana, inviting the brunette back into a gentle kiss that was all lips.

Brittany's hands had started trailing up and down the expanse of Santana's back which eventually made her start to giggle against Santana's lips as her mind caught up to exactly what they were doing.

"What?" Santana breathed back as her own lips curled at Brittany's amusement.

"You're naked," Brittany said naughtily as her hands continued to trace Santana's strong back muscles under the covers.

"So are you," Santana reminded her, sharing in the joke. Her hand was still squeezing at Brittany's hip, too terrified to really let it wander anywhere else.

"I-" Brittany pulled back to look at Santana seriously, only to shyly avert her eyes when her words failed her. She even pulled her hands back from touching Santana.

"What is it Britt?" Santana asked in concern as she tried to dip her head and catch Brittany's eyes once more.

"I- I want to touch you," Brittany admitted timidly.

Santana gulped realising it was really happening.

When Santana didn't respond, Brittany raised her head and tried to convey with her eyes how much she wanted this, even though she was feeling all kinds of nervous and frightened.

But most of all she felt excited.

"Is that okay?" Brittany asked not wanting to do anything without Santana's permission.

Santana swallowed nervously again as she finally remembered how to nod.

"You can touch me anywhere you want."

Santana's voice was hoarse and deep- almost unrecognisable as the consent tumbled out of her mouth.

Brittany smiled shyly at her.

"I like it when your voice does that," Brittany stalled as her shaking hand returned to Santana's shoulder. "It's super sexy."

Santana didn't know how to respond to that as she became transfixed by the expression of deep concentration on Brittany's face as her right hand slid lower across her collarbone and settled above her left breast, resting over her pounding heart. Brittany pressed her palm to the warm skin, feeling Santana's strong heart pounding away in her chest. She had been able to feel it already with their chests pressed together, but with her hand now on the move, Santana's pulse had started to race. She was sure hers was beating just as fast.

Santana wriggled backwards just enough to create space between them; enough space for Brittany to move her hand across her body as she pleased.

The gesture did not go unnoticed by Brittany who seemed to become more flustered as she realised her hand was now so very close to touching Santana's breast.

Their eyes remained locked as Brittany's hand slowly slipped beneath the covers until it was cupping the full curve of Santana's left breast. Her touch was feather-light and barely there at all and yet the heat between their touching skin was scalding, making both of their breaths hitch.

"Is this okay?" Brittany's voice quivered.

Santana nodded as she found herself having to hold herself back from leaning further into Brittany's hand.

"You can squeeze it if you want…" Santana told her as she licked her suddenly dry lips.

Brittany nodded; she really wanted to squeeze it.

Brittany pressed her hand harder against Santana's soft mound and gently squeezed her fingers, appreciating the handful with her open palm.

Santana gasped in surprise at how incredible such a simple action could make her feel. She smiled encouragingly at Brittany and was rewarded with another firm squeeze which made her feel like squirming on the spot. She managed to just get by squeezing her hand on Brittany's hip instead.

Brittany's inquisitive hand squeezed a few more times before lifting just enough so that she could rub the flat of her palm across the nipple she could already feel tightening against her.

Santana whimpered when her nipple dragged across Brittany's palm and she couldn't stop the way her own hand began palming at Brittany's skin, massaging her womanly curves and pulling her closer as she started arching her back into Brittany's curious touch.

"That feels really nice," Santana sighed as she shifted just a little closer. She really wanted to kiss Brittany again but Brittany's hand on her chest was far too distracting.

"Santana, I want to see you," Brittany husked as she started slowly rolling Santana's hard nipple under her thumb.

Santana was certain she would agree to anything when Brittany's hand was playing with her nipple like that. She nodded forgetting about all of her pre-existing shyness and pressed harder into Brittany's hand. She just didn't want the blonde to stop what she was doing.

Brittany did stop but only so she could reach for the stifling covers to peel them back and reveal their naked torsos, leaving only their lower halves still covered.

Santana's eyes immediately fell to Brittany's small pale breasts as they jostled with Brittany's movements until the blonde settled comfortably at her side once more. Brittany's nipples were rosy pink and for the first time in her life Santana was struck with the indescribable urge to touch them. She probably would have too if Brittany's hand hadn't returned to her own breast and began enthusiastically tweaking one nipple before sliding across to show the same attention to the other. With the noticeable temperature change from beneath the bed covers, Santana's nipples felt even more sensitive under Brittany's fingers and she couldn't contain the small desperate moans that began to escape her throat.

Brittany pushed Santana onto her back and sidled up next to her so she could tuck her head into Santana's shoulder and keep moving her hand back and forth across Santana's chest.

"Your boobs are so pretty San," Brittany whispered into Santana's neck as she squeezed a nipple harder than before.

Santana groaned as her hips rocked up in the air searching for friction and she turned her head to press her face against any part of Brittany she could reach. She'd never thought of breasts as being particularly pretty before but she liked that Brittany liked hers.

When Brittany started rocking against Santana's hipbone, Santana blindly reached down below the covers to encourage the movement not at all worrying that she just boldly grabbed the curve of Brittany's butt and pulled her hard against her.

Brittany naturally lifted her leg over Santana as she was pulled closer; causing her to moan deeply when her swollen centre pressed firmly against Santana's pronounced hipbone.

Santana could feely Brittany's wetness rubbing against her hip and it reminded her of the state of her own inner thighs. She tried to pull Brittany further on top of her so they could both rub against each other like before but as soon as Brittany found herself on top of Santana she seemed to come to and shook her head down at her.

"No, not like that," Brittany explained. There was nothing wrong with the way they had got off last time- in fact it had felt incredible- but Brittany wanted to try things differently this time. She just didn't have the words to explain to Santana what she wanted because she didn't really know herself.

Brittany crawled further up Santana's body until she was sitting astride Santana's stomach. This left Brittany completely uncovered and meant that as well as being able to feel her wet heat pressing low against her stomach- Santana could see it too.

Santana's eyes raked over every detail of Brittany's exposed body as though she was seeing her for the very first time. In a way she was; she'd never seen Brittany look like this. Her blonde hair was wild and ruffled as it hung down over her shoulders. And Brittany's bare chest was heaving with uneven breaths making her perky breasts move up and down in a hypnotizing pattern. Santana liked the colour of Brittany's eyes the most- darker than usual and focused completely on her.

Apart from her shaky breathing, Brittany appeared frozen in indecision as she sat atop Santana, so Santana took some initiative and reached with both hands up to Brittany's chest not being able to deny the pull any longer. Her thumbs went straight to Brittany's nipples and purposely tweaked them, making them swell and harden at the direct attention.

Brittany threw her head back as her legs squeezed at Santana's sides. Her hands came up to cover Santana's and she squeezed Santana's hands encouraging her to be a bit rougher with her touch.

"_Oh San…_" Brittany purred as she reflexively rubbed her crotch against Santana's firm stomach before groaning with frustration at herself and her need and falling back to hover over Santana once more.

Santana continued to fondle the blonde's breasts while Brittany supported herself, holding herself up on her arms above her. She could only watch with wide amazed eyes as Brittany's face strained with what she now recognized as a look of unbridled pleasure over and over again.

"You're so beautiful," Santana commented out loud making Brittany momentarily snap out of her pleasure haze to look down at Santana with a cute smile.

Brittany relaxed her arms so she fell back down on top of Santana, trapping the brunette's busy hands between their breasts as she unleashed a needy, passionate kiss on Santana. She tried to tell Santana everything she was struggling to contain with that one kiss.

Santana slipped one of her hands out from between them and wrapped her arm around Brittany's back, pulling her tighter against her. That familiar ache was returning- where she felt like she couldn't get close enough to Brittany no matter how hard they tried to press against each other.

Brittany's mouth pulled away and she trailed her kisses along Santana's jaw all the way to her ear.

"Please touch me San," Brittany entreated as she pressed her face to Santana's flushed neck.

"Uhh-," Santana erred; she already was touching Brittany.

Brittany's hand slipped between their sandwiched bodies and wrapped around Santana's, leading it further down her body to falter just below her stomach as soon as she felt Santana tense against her.

Santana was bombarded with a sense of déjá vu as her erotic dream from the other morning flashed across her mind and she knew what Brittany wanted her to do.

"I had a dream about this," Santana revealed trying to cover her nervousness.

Brittany chuckled into her neck and then lifted her head to look down at Santana.

"So you've had practice…" Brittany joked trying to ease the nervous tension.

"It was only a dream, Britt," Santana pointed out. "It didn't really happen."

"Yeah, I think I would have remembered that," Brittany gurgled, ducking her head to nibble on Santana's earlobe for just a second before returning her eyes to Santana. She could instantly tell by the look in her eye that Santana had no confidence in herself whatsoever to do what Brittany was asking of her.

"We don't have to do anything you're not ready for…" Brittany whispered seriously not wanting to force Santana into any situation.

Santana's hand inched just the tiniest bit lower without Brittany's direction, spreading her palm against the dip of Brittany's body.

"No I want to," Santana insisted. "I do. I meant it when I said I'm ready for anything you are. I just-"

Santana averted her eyes for a second before returning them to Brittany's watching her with concern.

"I really don't know what I'm doing here…"

Brittany's expression warmed to one of unconditional trust.

"San…"

"No, what if-" Santana began, shaking her head.

Brittany silenced her with a firm kiss.

Santana was left taking a long steadying breath when Brittany pulled back and continued to steadily look at her.

"I love you no matter what, **nothing** is ever going to change that," Brittany said firmly, her voice quivering with emotion just a little.

Santana couldn't help the stunning smile that transformed her face at Brittany's words. Proclamations of love and devotion had never been missing in their relationship. Santana especially never got bored of telling the blonde how much she adored her. But hearing it back always made Santana feel like her heart was going to burst with joy.

"Even if I'm a bad lay?" Santana asked, suddenly feeling a little more playful as her self-confidence began to return.

"Well I already know that's not true," Brittany murmured friskily.

Santana sought out Brittany's hand once more and squeezed it between their bodies.

"Help me?" Santana entreated.

Brittany smiled excitedly and nodded as she squeezed Santana's hand back and then slowly directed it the rest of the way down to nudge between her legs.

It was just like in her dream; Brittany's sex was soaked with slippery heat which her hand slipped through with ease. The part her dream hadn't got quite right however was the way Brittany reacted when she touched her for the first time; Brittany gasped delicately as a responsive shudder shook her body and then she was pushing her whole body down on top of Santana as though she was trying to squeeze inside of her. Santana would surely welcome her if such a thing were even possible.

Santana liked it because it made her feel like Brittany needed her- like she was the only one in the world who could give her what she needed.

It made her feel like her imprinting really meant something.

"_San_…" Brittany whined desperately as Santana's hand began to move on its own, instinctively rubbing Brittany's swollen slit and trying to take note of the areas which made Brittany's hips jolt and buck. She really didn't know what she was doing but so far she seemed to be fumbling through the basics reasonably well, judging by Brittany's reactions.

"I'm here baby," Santana purred throatily. Her free hand pushed up to brush Brittany's hair behind her ear so she could see her better. She cupped her face and watched the reactions cross her features.

Brittany's eyes squeezed shut and she nodded appreciatively as she started rolling her hips into Santana's hand.

Brittany must have realised her helping hand wasn't really necessary after all and she turned it on Santana, scratching with her short nails at the ticklish skin just above her pelvis.

Santana didn't know whether to laugh or groan in response to the unexpected touch and she pushed the palm of her hand up harder into Brittany in compromise.

Unawares to Santana, she'd just firmly nudged Brittany's clit causing the blonde to lunge down and bite gently at Santana's lip as she cried into her mouth.

Santana's eyes widened at that reaction and she fumbled to earn it again. Her lip was now throbbing and felt a little swollen from the surprise bite but she honestly felt like nothing could stop her now. Brittany was receptive to her every touch, as though her hands had been made to please Brittany and Santana quickly realised she could do no wrong here.

Santana rubbed higher up Brittany's slit, searching for that elusive spot and as soon as her fingers brushed over a swollen bump in the slippery terrain, Brittany cried out again, scratching at Santana with both hands.

Brittany's hand latched around Santana's wrist once more, keeping it in place over her clit.

"There San, rub there," Brittany urged and she started grinding her hips more insistently against Santana's hand.

Santana didn't need to be told twice as she began rubbing her fingers in circles around the bump, playing with it as she had Brittany's nipples. Santana felt like she couldn't get enough of this experience. Brittany felt so soft and silky down there and she wanted to keep running her fingers through her. But the problem was doing so without stopping the caress that Brittany had requested. Brittany felt like putty in her hand because of the way she was touching that little bump and it left Santana wondering if there was any more secret spots on Brittany's body that could make her feel even better.

Santana awkwardly shifted the position of her hand so that her thumb remained circling the bump, realising only now that _'the bump of flesh'_ she was playing with was what Brittany had been rubbing so insistently against her earlier. And in realising that she probably had one too; she figured that was why her sex had felt so good bumping and grinding against Brittany.

Now understanding what Brittany was experiencing with every swirl of her finger, Santana doubled her efforts as her other fingers reached down further and continued spreading Brittany's arousal all over her slit.

"Fu- _ugh_- ck_," _Brittany cursed unexpectedly as Santana's inexperienced hand continued to do wondrous things to her body. She felt like her orgasm wasn't far off but it was hard to tell because already this felt so much more intense than earlier when they'd merely been humping each other. Now they were naked and Santana's hand was between her legs, thumb stroking at her clit as her other fingers danced dangerously close to her entrance.

Just the thought of having Santana's fingers inside of her drove her crazy and even though she hadn't considered the possibility before, in that moment she'd never wanted anything more.

"_Inside_," Brittany barely managed to choke out as the insistent attention to her clit was starting to take its toll on her body, causing her to tremble with her approaching climax.

"What was that?" Santana lifted the blonde's chin gently, not quite catching her words.

Brittany's heavy eyelids pushed open to plead with Santana.

"I need you inside me," Brittany repeated.

Brittany's hand- still wrapped around Santana's wrist- slipped down to Santana's fingertips, guiding Santana's closest finger to her entrance.

"Please," Brittany begged again.

Santana's eyes bulged at the request she hadn't been expecting. Of course she knew how textbook sexual intercourse worked so it made perfect sense that she could theoretically slide her finger up inside Brittany. She'd had experience inserting tampons for years already so if anything this particular approach to handling Brittany's body probably seemed the least daunting.

Santana circled her finger around Brittany's wet entrance making the blonde whine and chew on her own lip.

"Are you sure?" Santana asked unsurely.

Santana knew that Brittany used the same brand of tampons as her… and even though she didn't know the full extent of Brittany's adventurous masturbation yesterday, Santana couldn't ignore the nagging in the back of her mind that if she did this then she'd technically be taking Brittany's virginity.

"I don't want to hurt you," Santana rasped. She'd heard that losing your virginity could hurt sometimes and she didn't want to ruin this moment by causing Brittany any pain.

"Just one finger?" Brittany begged as she rubbed her nose against Santana's cheek.

Santana nodded, not being able to deny Brittany's desperation. She slowly pushed the tip of her finger against Brittany's tight entrance, gently easing it inside. It slipped in easily and Santana couldn't hold back her gasp at the way Brittany's hot inner walls squeezed her finger on all sides.

"Brit-Brit you feel so…" Santana's awe-filled voice trailed off, not knowing how to describe the feeling of being inside Brittany. She settled for expelling a heated groan instead as she tried to keep on swirling her thumb and feeling her way around Brittany's inner walls.

"I know the feeling," Brittany tried to croon into Santana's ear but her voice hitched with another moan as Santana started moving the finger she had inside her back and forth making Brittany turn her head and nip wetly at Santana's jaw. "_Ugh_."

It was hard to find Brittany's lips when she was writhing like she was, nuzzling into Santana's face and neck as her breathing became laboured. Santana had to make do with planting her own open mouthed kisses on Brittany's temple or cheek whenever Brittany pushed against her.

"I could watch you move like this all day," Santana sighed as her fingers threaded into Brittany's hair and massaged her scalp.

Brittany chuckled against Santana's skin.

"I couldn't- _oh_, I wouldn't la- _ah_-st all day with… with you touching me like this," Brittany stammered.

Santana smiled widely as her confidence boosted and she switched the direction her thumb was moving in as she pulled her finger out of Brittany.

"You mean like this?" Santana baited as she circled Brittany's entrance with wide circles before slipping straight back in.

Brittany smiled widely against Santana's cheek as she released a loud groan.

"Cheeky," Brittany accused around a clicking tongue.

Brittany took that moment to remember that her hand was uselessly gripping Santana's wrist… and how having it between her own legs meant that it was also practically between Santana's legs too.

"Let's see how you like it," Brittany posed saucily.

Brittany turned her wrist and plunged her hand between Santana's legs seeking out the source of the slick heat she unsurprisingly found there. She mashed her palm hard against Santana's slit trying to put as much pressure on Santana's clit as she could.

Santana cried out loudly as her legs fell open and she bucked up into Brittany which essentially only pushed her own hand harder against the blonde.

Brittany's smug smirk instantly fell with her resulting grunt.

Santana tried to keep her eyes open but her eyelids felt so heavy as Brittany's hand massaged her. She'd never felt anything like what Brittany was doing to her.

"_Britt_…" Santana groaned.

Brittany just managed to lift her head enough to press their feverish foreheads together so that they could look at each other through their barely opened eyes.

"_San_," Brittany returned slyly with a smile ghosting at her open lips.

Brittany blindly reached for Santana's clit, pressing it firmly with her combined fingers.

"Come with me," Brittany urged.

Santana groaned again and started raising herself up into Brittany trying to get a firmer touch from Brittany's hand, while also shoving her own hand against Brittany's sex with determined repetition. She was quickly losing herself to her own pleasure but she knew she had to keep moving her hand against Brittany no matter what.

She wanted Brittany to have another orgasm. She wanted to feel Brittany have an orgasm because of her.

Their movements got more awkward the more frantic they became. They were already pressed so close and now they were both trying to steadily manoeuvre their arms between their bodies and keep on rubbing each other. Eventually the sensations got too intense though, that they couldn't keep up their respective fingering. They limply held their hands in prime placement and relied on friction do the rest.

Brittany crumbled first, her thighs squeezing in a vice-like grip at Santana's hips as their teeth clashed messily.

"_Santana_."

Brittany's sigh caressed Santana's lips and then Brittany's body tensed for one glorious second before shuddering powerfully against her.

Santana felt relief as she recognised the signs of Brittany's release- appreciating the beauty even more now that she could feel Brittany's sex throbbing around the finger that she still held buried deep inside her.

And as relief blanketed her conscience- knowing she had succeeded in pleasing Brittany, she felt her body relax, finally allowing herself to give in to the pleasure coiling inside.

As Brittany lay panting on top of her, blonde hair fanned across both their faces, Santana held on tight to her mate enjoying the way their hearts were gradually slowing to beat in sync. Her grip was possessive in a way that it had never been before because even though she'd always wanted to believe that Brittany was hers and hers alone- she'd never fully allowed herself to.

But with Brittany clutching at her in a way that made Santana feel like Brittany needed to be reassured that she was still there with her, she couldn't help believing it.

"I will never stop loving you."

...


	15. Chapter 15

Santana grimaced as she began to wake and realised she had a whole clump of hair in her mouth. She gagged and spluttered trying to spit it out since her arms were pinned and she couldn't use her hands to pull it from her lips. Her eyes snapped open to see a curtain of blonde hair all over her face and although she still had Brittany's hair in her mouth she couldn't help smiling around it as her panic immediately calmed. She wriggled trying to gently wake Brittany up.

Brittany stirred and sleepily raised her head to blink the sleep out of her eyes. When her eyes took in the sight of Santana lying patiently beneath her with her blonde hair in her mouth, Brittany began to giggle as she rushed to brush the hair aside.

"I'm sorry," Brittany mumbled sheepishly. "That's kinda gross. I guess even after all these years of sleeping together we still haven't completely figured it all out yet."

With Brittany's shifting Santana was able to pull her arms free and she immediately wrapped them around Brittany, smoothing her hands up and down Brittany's naked back.

"It's not gross when it's your hair," Santana admitted dotingly.

Brittany rolled her eyes even as she blushed. Only Santana would say such a thing…

"It's morning, isn't it?" Brittany sighed regrettably as she tucked her head back under Santana's chin, careful not to flick her hair in Santana's face this time. Her body was completely draped over Santana's, their still very much naked torsos pressed against each other as they cuddled beneath the bed covers. "You should probably go for your morning run soon if you want to get ready for school in time…"

"School?" Santana groaned in complaint as she pushed her face into Brittany's warm shoulder. "I'm too sore to move."

Brittany giggled against Santana's chest having a fair understanding of why Santana was so sore.

"I don't want the track team to hate me because I let you get out of shape, San," Brittany reminded her. "Championships are coming up…"

Santana smirked naughtily as her hands slipped lower down Brittany's body to cup her butt.

"I can think of another way to stay in shape," Santana purred as she squeezed her hands.

Brittany smiled as she raised her head to send Santana a playfully chastising look.

"I thought you said that you're sore…" Brittany challenged even as Santana's insistent hands forced Brittany's legs to spread wide enough for Santana's thigh to slip between and make her hum at the gentle contact against her own tender centre.

"I am," Santana admitted as she leaned up to softly mouth at Brittany's lips. "But in the best way possible."

Brittany smiled wider into Santana's lips. She knew the soreness Santana was talking about because she felt it too. Apart from the general fatigue she felt in her usual muscles, her nipples felt raw from all the curious tweaking she'd endured and her sex was tender from all the vigorous rubbing that had transpired during their night-long exploration of each other. It was a new kind of soreness that she didn't mind in the slightest because it reminded her of all the wonderful memories they'd created together.

"I think I created more than just a kissing monster," Brittany teased as she slipped her arms under Santana's head effectively propping Santana up in a better position to deepen their sloppy early morning kiss.

"Why don't we skip school today and stay in bed all day?" Santana whispered as she carefully nudged her thigh between Brittany's legs, knowing the blonde would be just as sore as she.

Brittany whimpered as her legs pushed wider open, her blatantly obvious arousal spreading across Santana's thigh. Her overstimulated clit ached with every sluggish prod of Santana's leg but it also felt too good to stop.

"Careful San," Brittany cautioned against Santana's lips. "I'm sore too."

Santana stilled her thigh against Brittany just enjoying the feeling of Brittany's heat pressing against her skin. Brittany sighed at the constant pressure and happily pecked at Santana's lips.

"Your parents get home today," Brittany reminded her. "And if you get as loud as you did last night I think they'll figure out that we're hiding away up here playing hooky."

Santana's cheeks flushed at Brittany's teasing as she remembered the particular _round_ Brittany was talking about.

"Hey, you just surprised me is all," Santana defended herself shyly. "I didn't know that was even possible…"

They were referring to last night when Brittany had surprised Santana by kissing her way down Santana's body. Santana hadn't even realised what Brittany was intending until she felt Brittany's tongue licking at her swollen sex. It had been enough of a shock to her system to make Santana shout out in shock and appreciation at the new but far from unwelcome sensation.

"I made you scream," Brittany teased some more as a smug grin tugged at her lips.

"Yeah well just wait until I get a chance to return the favour…"

Brittany began to look shy all of a sudden.

"You… you mean you would want to do that to me?" Brittany asked as she bit her lip. Just the thought of Santana's face between her legs made her feel even wetter.

Santana must have sensed Brittany's rush of arousal because her own bottom half twitched as she squeezed Brittany's butt cheeks harder in her hands.

"Are you kidding me?" Santana groaned out as the urge to roll Brittany over so she could have her way with her became almost too much to resist.

Brittany just blushed at Santana's reaction and waited for Santana to clarify herself properly.

"When you smell like this you smell so incredible," Santana explained as her hands continued to massage Brittany's curves. "Now that I know that doing _that _isn't just a perverted whim of mine; I can't wait to lose myself in your scent. You have no idea how much it calls to me…"

"And what does it say?" Brittany couldn't help asking as her mounting arousal got the better of her.

"I dunno… kiss me?" Santana stammered at the huskiness in Brittany's tone. "Touch me? Lick me? Taste me? Bury your face in me? … All of the above?"

Santana was blushing at the vulgar words coming from her mouth but she couldn't hide the way Brittany's scent wound her up.

"_San_," Brittany reprimanded as she rubbed her nose against Santana's, "You can't talk like that when we have to get up soon."

"Soon," Santana agreed as she smiled back at Brittany. "Not now. My alarm hasn't even gone off y-"

Santana's phone began to chime loudly from somewhere nearby signalling that it was time for them to wake up and start getting ready for school.

"No!" Santana groaned and squeezed her eyes shut as she cursed their bad timing.

Brittany simply giggled at her, forcing the arousal away as she climbed off Santana and slipped out of the bed in pursuit of the sound. She returned to sit on top of the covers with Santana's hoodie from two nights ago bunched in her hands as she dug into the pocket and pulled out Santana's flashing phone which she quickly disabled.

"You have a new message too," Brittany informed her as she flashed the screen at Santana.

"Really?" Santana answered in amazement. She never got messages from anyone except Brittany- and Brittany had been with her since she'd left her phone in a discarded pile of clothing on her bedroom floor. "What's it say?"

Brittany fiddled with Santana's phone for a moment before frowning at it.

"It's from a new number," Brittany relayed curiously.

Santana chuckled.

"Trust me, that's not very surprising… I'm pretty sure I've only got your number in there," Santana replied as she made a mental note to save the number from Tommy's call the other night so she would have his too. "So what's it say?"

Brittany cleared her throat as her eyes began to more over the screen.

"I tried to stop him," Brittany read aloud.

"Huh?" Santana frowned.

Brittany held the phone in front of Santana's face so she could read the message for herself. Santana reached for the phone and stared at the ominous message.

**'I tried to stop him.'**

"Weird," Santana commented, "Must be a mistake."

"A creepy mistake," Brittany agreed as she pulled Santana's hoodie on to ward off the early morning chill now that she was out of bed. "Way to kill the sexy mood creepy message person."

Santana frowned as Brittany covered up and could only watch as Brittany curiously dug into the other pocket and pulled her own phone out- her face lighting up with delight as she recognised it.

"My phone," Brittany squealed delightedly. "I thought I'd lost it!"

Santana wanted to smack herself for neglecting to return the blonde's phone earlier, but in her defence she'd been more than a little distracted.

"Yeah I found it in your room…"

"Thanks San, you're the best," Brittany told her as she leaned down to deliver a chaste kiss before sitting back up again. "And I've got four new messages!"

Santana simply smiled up at Brittany, appreciating her enthusiasm.

"Rebekah says 'Yay!'" Brittany relayed as she began to read through her messages, "Tommy must have told her about us."

Santana grumbled something to herself. Sure it was nice knowing that people were happy for them but Santana wasn't sure she liked the idea of Tommy blabbing about it to everyone before she even had a chance to come to terms with it all herself. Brittany and her life was completely changed now.

"And… three messages from you," Brittany said cutely as she went on to finally read Santana's unanswered texts from two days ago.

Santana blushed as she remembered how panicked she'd felt at the time, not knowing where Brittany was. She never wanted to feel like that again; she'd felt completely disorientated.

"Aww," Brittany cooed as she leaned over Santana once more and kissed her lovingly. "You're so sweet, San. I'm sorry for worrying you."

"S'okay," Santana hummed back as a big dopey grin took over her face.

Brittany laughed at her expression before pushing forward once more to deliver a deep probing kiss.

When Santana's hand sneaked under the hoodie she was wearing and started sliding up the blonde's body, Brittany forced herself to pull away as she sent Santana a chastising look.

"Nuh uh, we have to get ready for school," Brittany reminded her. "And we both need to take a shower; even without your heightened sense of smell I can tell that we both stink of sex."

As Brittany tried to pull away and head for Santana's bathroom, Santana caught up her hand and held on to her, which caused Brittany to quizzically glance back at her.

"We could take a shower together?" Santana suggested as she slid from the bed and came to stand in all her naked glory in front of Brittany. She tried not to sound too hopeful. The funny thing was that she didn't even mean the offer in a suggestive way- she just felt incredibly needy all of a sudden at the thought of parting from Brittany even for the short duration of a taking a shower. Their newfound intimacy had surely messed up her coping mechanisms when it came to their separation.

The visible marks on Santana's neck, shoulders and chest from where she'd bitten and sucked at her skin throughout the night made Brittany's lower stomach clench and she had to force herself to look directly into Santana's eyes. Of course the desperation she saw there made her heart clench too…

Brittany smiled warmly as she turned her wrist on Santana's hold and clasped their hands together instead as she tugged Santana into the bathroom with her.

"But no funny business or we're going to be late. And I don't want Sue keeping me back any later than I have to…" Brittany called over her shoulder. "My parents won't be home til later tonight and I plan on making full use of my empty house."

Santana grinned back at her as her mind started buzzing with the possibilities of how they could now spend their afternoon together.

Despite the abundance of opportunity the act of sharing a shower offered them, the girls did so playfully in a way that they hadn't been able to since they were children. They splashed at each other and washed each other's hair, now completely comfortable in each other's nakedness. They still stole the odd kiss from one other here and there, but overall it was an innocent affair that left both of them giggling and feeling lively as they welcomed their first day of facing the world together as a couple.

"What are we going to do about school?" Santana asked as she pulled her letterman jacket over her shoulders. The Cheerios was the only squad at their school who required members to be in full uniform at all times so unlike Brittany; Santana was comfortably dressed in a shirt and jeans. As part of the track team, Santana was merely encouraged to wear her letterman jacket on school grounds.

Brittany was still wrapped in a towel as she methodically tried to dry her hair so she could bind it up to meet the pristine Cheerios' standards.

"What do you mean?" Brittany asked her back.

"Everyone thinks we're sisters…" Santana sighed.

Brittany pulled a face; when people had thought of them as sisters in the past Brittany had always found it kind of cute… but now, knowing what she and Santana did together, the confusion kind of grossed her out.

"Well if they took the time to notice they would realise there's a popular Senior who shares the same last name as you and who also shares a striking resemblance to you and they'd realise how silly their assumptions are…" Brittany shrugged back.

"Maybe they make those assumptions because it's easier than seeing the truth…" Santana posed gently. "Britt, a lot of people may not like that our relationship has changed the way it has- especially the way it has practically overnight. People- your friends especially- they may feel betrayed by you for keeping this from them…"

Brittany frowned at what Santana was suggesting.

"Those people don't matter San, and if my friends don't like it then I'll make new friends who do…" Brittany argued determinably.

Brittany watched Santana's worries flicker across her face.

"Are you saying you don't want people to know about us?" Brittany asked trying not to let the hurt show.

Santana's heartstrings pulled at the tone creeping into Brittany's voice and she rushed to Brittany's side to crouch in front of her. She placed her hands on Brittany's thighs where she sat on the end of the bed and stared unabashedly into her eyes.

"Brittany you know that what people think doesn't matter to me," Santana reassured as she reached up to cup Brittany's cheek. "You're the only person who matters to me. I just don't want you getting hurt by any of the mean things people might say about us. Their words shouldn't be allowed to tarnish what we have."

"But we've always just acted ourselves in the brief times we get to spend together at school and we've always been incredibly close… it would look weird if we started acting differently now; it would make people ask more questions…" Brittany pointed out.

"And I'm not saying we should be anyone but ourselves. People already expect us to be close- for whatever reasons they've chosen- so let's not force anything different down their throats and they'll leave us be, none the wiser," Santana suggested.

"I don't want to have to lie if people ask me if you're my girlfriend. It's not something I want to hide," Brittany said sullenly.

Santana smiled proudly when Brittany referred to her as her girlfriend.

"We won't deny it ever. If anyone asks then we'll tell them we're dating… but if they don't," Santana shrugged trying to communicate her point.

Brittany thought about it long and hard realising that the new obvious displays of affection such as kissing would be the kind of behaviour Santana was referring to when she said that they shouldn't force their new relationship 'down their throats' and honestly she could live with that- since stuff like that was between them anyway and only the people she really trusted should get to ever see them act like that. It kept the intimacy special because it was between them.

In reality not that much would really change for them if they carried on in the way they usually did around each other. The only difference now was that they both knew they were dating… whereas before it had only looked like they were.

"So, no bragging about our awesome _sexcapades_ to the other girls in the shower room then?" Brittany teased making Santana's eyes bulge comically wide, "Just kidding, San. You're so cute."

Brittany leaned forward to kiss Santana's nose.

"Now let me finish getting dressed or we'll both end up in detention and there'll be no after school activities for either of us," Brittany warned as she stood up and headed for Santana's closet where she knew a spare Cheerios uniform would be hanging alongside a selection of her own clothing she could rely on whenever she stayed at Santana's. The same could be said for her own wardrobe where space had been made for Santana to hang some of her clothes.

"Okay… _girlfriend_," Santana said playfully as she winked over at Brittany enjoying the smile that lit up the blonde's face. "I'll meet you downstairs."

Santana felt like she was floating on a cloud as she made her way downstairs. She was so distracted by her thoughts of being so incredibly in love with Brittany that she failed to see her mother standing at the bottom of the stairs until she almost walked straight into her.

"Mom!" Santana exclaimed as she jumped in fright finally noticing the woman standing silently with her arms crossed at the foot of the stairs, watching her with an unwavering stare.

"You've got some explaining to do young lady," Mrs Lopez barked as she turned on her heel and headed for the kitchen, only stopping once to glance over her shoulder and make sure that Santana was following.

Santana hastened to follow her mother, completely confused by her behaviour until she walked through the doorway to the kitchen and had to stop in her tracks as she was distracted by the explosion of unexpected colour. Where she was used to her mother's well-kept kitchen, it now looked like a party bomb had gone off inside the room. There were balloons and steamers and confetti in a rainbow of colour scattered all over every inch of the room.

And on the kitchen counter where her mother was standing… there was a giant cake with a clear message scrawled across it in icing:

**'CONGRATS ON THE SEX!'**

Santana began coughing and spluttering as her body reacted to the embarrassment of being caught out in such a situation. Her mother wasn't supposed to find out like this… Santana was supposed to sit her down and tell her the news when she had Brittany by her side.

"Well, what do you have to say for yourself?" Mrs Lopez asked, not looking at all impressed.

Santana had no words; she merely continued to splutter as mortification settled in.

"Do you think this is funny?"

Santana shook her head. Amusement was definitely not what she was feeling.

"I know your brother likes to give you a hard time… but Santana, this is a new low," Mrs Lopez reprimanded.

Santana had been too busy freaking out about the cake to even think about where it had come from… but of course it had to have been Tommy.

"I'm going to kill him," Santana hissed to herself.

"Oh?" Mrs Lopez rebuked, "Why? Because he didn't clean up all this mess before I got home to catch you out in your little prank."

Santana frowned in confusion.

"Wait, what?"

"The very first weekend Tommy has to spend alone with Rebekah and you have to go and pull a stunt like this," Mrs Lopez scolded. "And as much as I really don't want to think about what my babies are doing behind closed doors… it's unfair to make fun of him because he finally has what you've had for practically your whole life."

Santana shook her head as her mother's warped view of the situation became clear…

"Oh no, no, no… I didn't do this!" Santana cried indignantly. She was **not** going to have to feel the humiliation of her brother's over the top teasing **and** have to take the slack for it all at that. "That magically enhanced meathead did this all on his own!"

"Santana!" Mrs Lopez disciplined before calming significantly, "You give your brother too much credit."

"No I mean it Mom," Santana insisted. "Tommy did this. He did all of it."

Mrs Lopez started shaking her head and began walking arond the room pulling down the decorations.

"So you expect me to believe that Tommy set all this up just so it would look like you were trying to give him a hard time…" Mrs Lopez's tone did not sound like she was putting much faith in the words coming from her own mouth.

"Well he was really bored yesterday…" Santana mumbled, agreeing that the situation was kind of absurd. "But, he didn't do it to set me up… he did it to… well I don't know really… I guess he thought it would be funny."

Mrs Lopez merely stopped what she was doing and turned to give Santana a doubtful look.

"The cake is for me. Me and Brittany," Santana murmured somewhat shyly as she scuffed the toe of her shoe against the kitchen floor.

Telling her mother and father about the developments in her and Brittany's relationship had been something she knew she would have to do sooner or later… but admitting to her mother straight up that she was now having sex with Brittany- and under her roof- just seemed to be skipping a whole lot of the usual steps.

When her mother didn't respond, Santana hesitantly looked up at her.

Mrs Lopez broke out into hearty laughter, dropping the decorations she'd already gathered in her arms to clutch at her sides.

"Come on now Santana, you two have been going at it since you figured out you could," Mrs Lopez carried on, chuckling to herself.

"Mom!" Santana exclaimed; she didn't know whether to be horrified or offended by her mother's insinuation. "We really haven't!"

A fresh faced Brittany chose that moment to enter the room, smiling wide at all the colour as she stepped behind Santana and perched her head on her shoulder, wrapping her arms tightly around Santana's waist.

"Did you do all this?" Brittany whispered in amazement into Santana's ear. "When did you have time to bake a cake?"

Santana groaned as her mother merely chuckled victoriously at her.

"Now you eat that up before your father hears anything of this nonsense. You're lucky he had to go straight to work this morning," Mrs Lopez enforced. "And you'll be apologising to Tommy… and Rebekah the next time you see her…"

Brittany made a confused sound in Santana's ear which Santana shook her head at as she pulled free of Brittany's embrace and sighed, seeing no point in arguing with her mother any further on the matter.

"Come on Britts, I'll explain later," Santana said as she begrudgingly grabbed the tray their celebratory cake was sitting on and gestured for Brittany to follow her as they left the 'party'. "Looks like we're having cake for breakfast. Lunch and dinner too."

Brittany smiled brightly as she skipped over to kiss Mrs Lopez on the cheek.

"I love your daughter Mama Lopez, very much," Brittany gushed. "And she loves me back. I'm sorry your kitchen exploded with our rainbow love."

Santana blushed where she stood with the massive cake in hand as she waited for Brittany.

"That cake really was for you?" Mrs Lopez asked the blonde gently.

"Oh so you believe her!" Santana scoffed.

"Well it is a little hard to believe that you two haven't been… well, _intimate_ until now," Mrs Lopez admitted, looking thrown and more than a little flustered by this new development. She obviously didn't have a problem with it since she'd accepted long ago that Santana had imprinted on a girl. It was just odd to hear that she'd jumped the gun by quite a few years with her assumptions on their closeness.

"Well not right now obviously Mama L, but all last night and yesterday too," Brittany divulged proudly. "Your daughter was very stubborn and we had a lot of lost time to make up for."

"Britt!" Santana cried as the mortification returned and she almost dropped the cake. "What did we say about sparing people the graphic _details_?"

"It's just your mom San- she's family! And she already knows how in love we are!" Brittany replied, bubbly.

"Oh so what do you say we leave this cake in your kitchen and see what your parents think about it then?" Santana challenged teasingly.

Brittany gasped as colour filled her cheeks at the idea of her parents learning the truth of their sex life so soon.

"San, you wouldn't dare!" Brittany squealed as she chased a quickly retreating Santana out of the room.

They spent the last few precious moments before they had to be on their way to school laughing and carrying on as they chased each other around the house, feeding each other mouthfuls of icing sugar between stolen kisses.

* * *

><p><em>Santana and Brittany had been tucked in to Brittany's bed hours ago since it was well past their respective bed times. The hum of conversation could still be heard from downstairs as Mr and Mrs Lopez tried to explain the ins and outs of 'imprinting' to Mr and Mrs Pierce, as they would continue to do so long into the early hours of the morning. It was a complicated phenomenon even before it had prematurely shown itself in their young offspring earlier that afternoon and caused the need for the massive life-changes that would need to be put into place to offer the girls as normal an upbringing as possible while being raised <strong>together<strong>. It was quite a challenge for two young couples who were practically strangers to be forced to coordinate. And in a way they both felt like they were losing their daughters to the inexplicable bond that had been formed._

_Brittany and Santana had been present for most of the conversation but explaining the complexity of their situation to two four year olds was a task in itself and only ended up spooking the children when their mothers would suddenly burst into unexplainable tears._

_It had been decided that Santana would stay that first night at the Pierce's until they could further explore the sensitivities of such an early imprinting. Santana's pains were no longer anywhere near as intense; now that she understood that there was no longer any chance that she was going to be taken away from Brittany's side._

_They both lay side by side, unable to sleep as they stared up at the ceiling; their young minds trying to process the enormity of what had transpired between them- and as their parent's had stressed- seemingly changed their lives forever. The new friendship that had been formed in the park that day would apparently never be forgotten. _

_"Does it hurt?" Brittany whispered into the dark._

_"A little," Santana squeaked back, "But not now. Not when I'm with you."_

_Santana wasn't even exaggerating in the slightest; Brittany made everything better._

_Santana had heard of 'imprinting' before but she never bothered to really take notice of it- it was a thing for adults to worry about like money and where food comes from._

_And now she was being told that she had done it to Brittany and that was why she was feeling like she was- like she needed to be as close to Brittany as possible at all times. But her mother had told her that she needed to stop clutching so desperately to Brittany because her new little friend had been forced into this situation and maybe she didn't want to be touched all the time. It wasn't appropriate for her to carry on hanging off of Brittany no matter how supportive the blonde seemed._

_"I'm sorry," Santana apologised regrettably. She felt so guilty even though she clearly didn't remember having any control over what had happened. She just saw Brittany and suddenly everything changed._

_"What for?" Brittany asked, turning on her side to face Santana. She had a night light on nearby and there was light shining in from the hall so she could easily see the small girl lying beside her._

_Santana mimicked Brittany without even thinking it through; Brittany moved, so Santana moved- it was like clockwork._

_"For imprinting on you. I must've done it by accident… maybe when I saved you from falling…" Santana stammered as her lip began to quiver with emotion._

_Everyone seemed so disappointed and it was all her fault. Her father was all quiet and serious and her mother kept crying… even Brittany's parents who she didn't know very well at all seemed unhappy._

_Brittany was the only one who seemed unfazed by what had happened._

_"Oh. You didn't mean to?" Brittany asked sounding surprised and maybe a little disappointed. "To im-imp… to do that thing you did?"_

_Santana just shrugged._

_"I've always wanted a friend," Brittany admitted quietly as she stared into Santana's eyes._

_Santana's heart jumped with excitement. She wanted to be Brittany's friend so bad._

_"Can I be your friend? Please?" Santana begged excitedly._

_Brittany giggled at Santana's enthusiasm._

_"You already are silly," Brittany joked. "Didn't you hear our parents? We're going to be friends forever." _

_"Oh, because I imprinted," Santana mumbled. There she was feeling guilty again- like she'd forced Brittany to be her friend somehow._

_"So?" Brittany asked, not understanding the problem. "I had no friends before and then you appeared and you did your magic and now we're better than friends. We're special friends. Best friends."_

_"Yeah?" Santana asked dreamily. She couldn't help sounding hopeful because the way Brittany described it, her imprinting didn't sound like an accident at all. It sounded like it was meant to happen all along._

_Brittany nodded with a big excited smile on her face._

_"And didn't you hear? You're going to live with me. We're going to be like sisters and we'll get to do everything together," Brittany told her animatedly._

_"You promise?" Santana asked needing reassurance. She didn't think she could survive if she didn't have Brittany in her life. _

_The truth was she should have been more terrified by the fact that until that afternoon the most important people in her life had been her parents whom she loved more than anyone else in the world. And she did love her brother too- even though he could be mean to her. But now she was realising that if she had to choose between them… she'd want to go with Brittany every time. _

_"I pinky promise," Brittany said as she lifted her hand and waved her pinky finger in front of Santana's face._

_Santana grinned and twined her pinky finger around Brittany's enjoying the warmth that shot through her with their touching. Though after what was probably an inappropriate length of time she seemed to realise what she was doing…_

_"Sorry," Santana muttered as she pulled away. "Mama says I can't touch you so much."_

_Brittany moved her hand back across the space between them until she found Santana's once more and squeezed it in her own._

_"You can hold my hand whenever you want," Brittany told her. "I like it."_

_They lay there holding hands and smiling shyly at each other._

_Santana had never felt so happy and safe in all her life. She had felt safe before of course- plenty of times… but she felt a whole new sense of security now with Brittany. And everything was just so warm and inviting. Just being in Brittany's room and in her bed was reassuring her that everything was going to be okay because everything around her reminded her of Brittany._

_And everything smelled like Brittany too-_

_She didn't know how she knew what Brittany smelled like- it wasn't like smelling other smells… she could just sense her and it made her feel all warm and fuzzy inside._

_Santana yawned and sleepily blinked her eyes as she gave in to the feeling of being surrounded by Brittany's warmth._

_"We should try and sleep. There'll be lots of fun stuff to do together tomorrow," Brittany said sleepily._

_Santana yawned again and nodded. She wanted to move even closer to Brittany but she didn't know if that would be okay. She must have looked troubled by her thoughts though because Brittany spoke up again._

_"What's wrong Santana?" Brittany murmured, fighting her tiredness for Santana's sake._

_"Can I cuddle you?" Santana asked timidly. "You're really warm."_

_Brittany smiled and pulled on Santana's hand encouraging her to move closer. When they had wriggled next to each other they threw an arm over each other's side and giggled at their closeness. Santana tucked her head under Brittany's chin and curled into her. _

_"I've only cuddled a teddy bear in bed before," Santana whispered as she fought another yawn. Brittany's proximity was completely relaxing her to sleep._

_"I'm so much better than a teddy bear though," Brittany mumbled drowsily. "Cause I can cuddle you back… and talk to you and smile at you. And…"_

_Santana smiled as Brittany's voice faded away with sleep and she cuddled even closer._

_"And tell you I love you."_

_Santana wasn't sure if she imagined that last one or if she sleepily muttered it herself._

**fin_._**


End file.
